DOH needs ‘more teeth’ in booster campaign —health expert

FILE PHOTO: A resident of Bayambang town, Pangasinan province, receives a booster shot against COVID-19 on Tuesday (July 26) as the Department of Health launched a regionwide booster vaccination drive. (Photo by Yolanda Sotelo)

MANILA, Philippines — Health experts on Thursday urged the government to require the public to receive updated vaccinations and improve the delivery of the COVID-19 booster.

At the second Asian Roundtable Discussion in Makati City, Philippine College of Physicians President Diana Payawal said booster immunizations could be mandatory for kids and the workplace.

“In the bottom line, in the national booster vaccination program, we need to have more teeth in this aspect, so one of the things that we can do is to actually require it in some aspects like in the workplace, or for children,” said Payawal.

Payawal noted that some workplaces already require vaccination before allowing employees to work.

“So why can’t we do that in this scenario? So I think putting more teeth is what the DOH can do to actually expand more,” she added.

Infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante seconded Payawal’s views, urging the government to focus on the booster campaign “rather than tinkering [with] existing health protocols.”

“We have to put this in terms of increasing our vaccination coverage in booster, we now know that the primary vaccine series is not working anymore, you need a booster vaccine to restore that waning effectiveness and it’s high time that we require booster vaccine as a requirement when you go to the mall, work, parks,” he said.

Meanwhile, former PCP president Maricar Limpin stressed the importance of effective communication, adding that DOH should consider revising its campaign once it has determined it is ineffective.

“I think it is high time to go back and try to find out bakit hindi (why it is not) effective, hindi na-a-achieve ang objective and therefore if you are not seeing the objective, you have to revise the campaign,” said Limpin.

“It is not ringing a bell among the Filipinos so change it to why Filipinos have to get booster doses,” she added.

She also called on the government to debunk arguments from the anti-vaxxers “because that is the only way we can make Filipinos line up and get boosted.

The Department of Health (DOH) had implemented a booster campaign targeting to inoculate 23.8 million or at least 50 percent of the eligible population with the COVID-19 booster shot within the first 100 days of President Ferdinand Marcos’ administration.

The department then conceded on August 31 that it would no longer be able to meet its target as the campaign only reached about 9 percent of its target population for the first boosters.

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JMS/abc