BY GLENDA TAYONA and IME SORNITO
ILOILO City – If there is enough available vaccines, the city government will offer booster shots to anyone from across Western Visayas already fully vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Except for AstraZeneca, all the COVID-19 vaccines available here – Sinovac, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson – were supplied by the national government.
The city government would like to share them to the people of Western Visayas who are ready and qualified for booster shots, according to Mayor Jerry Treñas.
The AstraZeneca vaccines here, on the other hand, were procured by the city government.
In an advisory, the Department of Health (DOH) announced that the Food and Drug Administration had approved a shorter waiting time for booster shots. These could now be availed of by fully vaccinated people three months after their last dose.
“Let’s all get our booster shots. The Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus is affecting the United States of America and Europe. Let us get as much protection as possible when it is already allowed,” said Treñas.
Aside from booster shots, the city government is also preparing for COVID-19 vaccination for children from five to 11 years old. The national government may give the go-signal for it – using the Pfizer vaccine – next month.
“We want to make sure nga ang tanan may proteksyon,” said Treñas.
This is also in preparation for the resumption of face-to-face classes, he added.
‘NO RUSH’
The provincial government of Iloilo, too, is willing to make available COVID-19 vaccines for booster shots if supplies allow, according to Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.
He welcomed the DOH announcement on the shortened waiting time for booster shots.
“Following the amended Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for COVID-19 vaccine boosters, the Department of Health would like to inform the public that all adults (ages 18 and above) are now eligible to receive a single-dose booster of COVID-19 vaccine at least three months after the second dose of AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, Sinovac or Sputnik vaccine or at least two months after Janssen effective 22 December 2021,” part of the DOH statement read.
“Kon mag-booster kita sang three months pa lang, that is good if you have vaccines,” said Defensor.
But if the vaccine remains effected for, say, up to six months, he would not rush using them for booster shots so as not to strain the supply.
The provincial government’s priority, said Defensor, is to reach out to those who have yet to receive even just the first dose.
“Unahon ta anay ang wala gid bakuna kaysa i-booster mo ang may epektibo pa nga bakuna,” the governor stressed.
Data (as of Dec. 22) from the Provincial Health Office (PHO) showed that 1,004,494 or 69 percent of the target population in the province have received first dose. Here’s the breakdown:
* healthcare workers (A1) – 86,646
* senior citizens (A2) – 133,575
* persons with co-morbidities (A3) – 142,160
* frontline personnel (A4) – 235,031
* indigent (A5) – 142,967
The target population is 1,448,757, thus over 400,000 individuals have yet to be vaccinated.
As to the fully vaccinated, the number rose to 694,401 (healthcare workers – 62,542; senior citizens – 111,672; persons with comorbidities – 125,848; frontline personnel – 165,944; and indigent – 81,649.
“Ang aton vaccination drive everyday. Padayun ini nga bukas sa aton mga pumoluyo nga wala pa makabakuna,” said Defensor.
It was last month when the provincial government started giving booster shots to eligible people (six months after their last dose.
World Health Organization officials recently criticized blanket COVID-19 vaccine booster programs as poor countries struggle to obtain initial doses, warning that the unequal access to immunizations could lead to more mutated variants that drag out the crisis.
“Blanket booster programs are likely to prolong the pandemic, rather than ending it, by diverting supply to countries that already have high levels of vaccination coverage, giving the virus more opportunity to spread and mutate,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing./PN