GOVERNMENT should strive to administer the first booster shots to at least 70 percent of the population amid the rising cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an infectious disease expert said yesterday.
Dr. Rontgene Solante, a member of the Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) of the Department of Science and Technology, said while the Philippines is one of the countries with high full vaccination rate, it is one of those with low booster rates.
Solante, in an interview with dzBB, said while more than 70 percent of the population are already fully vaccinated, less than 15 percent of them have received their booster.
The National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard shows that as of July 10, about 154.78 million have been vaccinated — 68.57 million who have received their first dose, 71 million who are fully vaccinated, and 15.18 million who have received a booster.
Solante said the target of the Duterte government then was to fully vaccinate at least 70 percent of the population and give boosters to as many of the fully vaccinated as possible.
He suggested that the new administration include the administering of a booster to 70 percent of the population in their goals for the first 100 days.
He said improving the booster rate could lead to easing of health protocols such as removing face masks when outdoors and using face masks only in indoor and crowded areas.
“Hanggang hindi tayo makatanggap nitong booster na ito, medyo maging limited pa rin ang mga protocol natin. Hindi tayo masyadong okay dahil talagang expected itong mga spike, surge ng cases (Until we get our booster, our protocols are limited. We are not okay because we expect the spikes, surge in cases),” Solante said.
“Ang goal natin 70 percent ng population dapat naka-booster, doon natin makikita na pwede na magluwang ng health protocols, especially iyung mask na hindi na kailangan sa outdoor (Our goal is 70 percent of the population should have booster, then we will see if we can ease the health protocols, especially the masking and doing away with it outdoors),” he added.
Solante said other countries have stepped up the administration of the booster because the primary series provides protection mostly only against the original COVID and variants that immediately came out after that.
He said the primary series is not as effective against new variants of concern such as the Omicron and its sub-variants which came out last year. He said this is why the booster is needed as an added protection against the new variants.
He reminded the public that COVID is a mutating virus, which makes getting a booster important. He said the public may also see a need to get boosters every year due to this especially if COVID becomes a seasonal virus similar to the flu which is more rampant during rainy and cold seasons.
Marcos., in his weekly vlog, again urged the public to get their booster shots which he said is needed due to the upcoming resumption of face-to-face classes and to sustain the opening of the economy.
Prior to his vlog, which was uploaded in his Facebook account on Saturday night, Marcos also talked to local government units on Friday about the conduct large-scale immunization drives for booster shots targeting school children so they can safely go back to school either by August or September and start the full face to face classes by November.
“So let us return to the idea of what we did last year na magkaroon ulit ng vaccine rollout. Gawin na natin ito para makatiyak na tayo (So let us return to the idea of what we did last year that we had vaccine rollout. Let’s do it so we can be assured),” he said.
He added that a successful booster rollout could lead to the lowering of alert levels and making the wearing of face masks optional.
“But we will not do that until it is clear that we are really safe. Although so far, we are good, the hospitals are not full. But if we do not take care, we will return to the previous situation,” he added in mixed Filipino and English.
