The PinasLakas vaccination campaign, one of the commitments of the DOH for the first 100 days of the Marcos administration as part of the ongoing coronavirus response, has achieved 25 percent of the booster shot target.
The campaign aims to improve vaccination coverage for the first booster and to inoculate more senior citizens against the coronavirus.
“[For] PinasLakas, we were able to vaccinate 3.2 million individuals for the first booster shots. Ngayon, ang cumulative accomplishments natin sa lahat ng nagbu-booster shots sa buong bansa (Currently, our cumulative accomplishments for booster shots nationwide) is at 19.7 million,” Vergeire said.
The figure equates to 25 percent of the eligible population, she added.
Earlier, the DOH adjusted its first booster vaccination coverage to 30 percent, originally 50 percent, of the eligible population.
The agency, through the campaign, has vaccinated more than 42,000 senior citizens.
As of Oct. 2, a total of 73,181,447 individuals have been fully vaccinated and 19,760,243 have received booster shots.
Meanwhile, the wearing of face masks in schools and other indoor spaces is still encouraged as the coronavirus prevails and cases increase.
Last month, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order No. 3, series of 2022, allowing voluntary wearing of face masks in outdoor settings.
However, senior citizens and immunocompromised individuals are highly encouraged to wear face masks outdoors.
Earlier, the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV) said wearing of face mask is protection against other communicable diseases and not just Covid-19.
PFV Executive Director Dr. Lulu Bravo noted that wearing of face mask protects the vulnerable — individuals with comorbidity, immunocompromised, cancer patients, transplant patients, and the elderly — from communicable diseases.
“Maski hindi po Covid, maaari kayong magkaroon ng symptoms ng ubo, sipon, tsaka pneumonia (Even if it is not Covid-19, you can have symptoms like cough, colds and pneumonia),” she said. (PNA)
