President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. attends the National Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccination Kick-Off Event at the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. (Photo from Jean Mangaluz)
MANILA, Philippines — The government began inoculating healthcare workers (HCW) with the bivalent vaccines on Wednesday, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in attendance at the kick-off in Quezon City.
Dubbed as the “National Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccination Kick-Off Event”, around 2,500 HCWs of the Philippine Heart Center are expected to be vaccinated with the bivalent doses within the next three days, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
The bivalent Pfizer vaccines tackle both the original strain of COVID-19, and its more contagious variant Omicron.
Also in attendance at the launch was DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, as well as other representatives from the government.
Nearly 400,000 doses arrived from Lithuania earlier in June. Herbosa had previously stated that there are not enough bivalent vaccines for the entire country.
According to the Health Secretary, the vaccines will primarily be used for the elderly and healthcare workers.
