THE Department of Health has lowered its target of administering COVID-19 booster shots to 50 percent of the population within the first 100 days of the Marcos administration, to just 30 percent.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, DOH officer-in-charge, yesterday said the target was lowered because of the continued low uptake of eligible individuals.
“We told the President that there is really a slow uptake in our first booster shots. We are having this very low uptake of our boosters, so we are adjusting our targets,” she said in a press conference.
President Marcos Jr. marks his first 100 days in office on October 8.
Vergeire said failure to meet the lower target by October 8 can affect both the population and the government.
“The consequence is that there will be more and more of those vulnerable to severe and critical cases,” said.
“For the government, if there will be more severe and critical cases, more will need to be admitted in hospitals that we have to take care of,” she said.
There are 19,283 COVID-19 vaccination sites nationwide.
Vergeire said some 18.9 million individuals have received the first booster shot or “almost 24 percent of our eligible population.”
“We need to get at least 6 percent more so that we reach 30 percent for the first booster shots by October 8,” she said.
Last July, the DOH said it is looking to administer booster shots to 23 million individuals in the first 100 days of the Marcos administration. At that time, there were 15.7 million boosted individuals. Based on the target, there will be around 39 million with up to date vaccination by October 8, or 50 percent of the 78 million eligible population.
With the lower target to 30 percent or 23.4 million, the DOH will just need 4.5 million to meet the number.
As of September 18, there were at lease 18.9 million individuals who have received their first booster dose,
Vergeire again asked individuals to get their booster shots as the government is set to hold special vaccination days from September 26 to 30.
“Hopefully, in this special vaccination week, we will have the support of everyone, that they will pour in all efforts for us to be able to achieve this target first booster shots by October 8,” she said.
“We urge each and every Filipino, who has not receive their first booster shots, please get boosted so we are all protected,” added Vergeire.
