“Take the opportunity nga luag ang vaccination sites. Ayaw ninyo paabota na mag surge na pud unya magkaguot na pud sa vaccination hubs. Take the opportunity na gamay kaayo ta og cases and there is no crowd sa mga vaccination site (Take the opportunity of having uncrowded vaccination sites. Do not wait for the surge to come and the vaccination hubs become busy. Take the opportunity that we have low cases right now and there are no crowds at the vaccination sites),” spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser said in a radio interview.
On March 21, 2022, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said Davao City, along with the rest of the country, may experience another Covid-19 surge brought by the BA.2 sub-variant of the Omicron variant.
Duterte-Carpio predicts it will arrive in one month but according to her, public health experts said it may arrive in two months.
“Dugay kaayo ang incubation sa Covid-19, 14 days, so makalusot gyod na siya sa atong nasud, just like all the other variants of Covid na nakalusot (The incubation of Covid-19 is 14 days, so there is a possibility that it will enter the country just like all the other variants of Covid we had),” Duterte-Carpio said.
With the threat of the BA.2 sub-variant surge and the continuing low turnout of the booster dose vaccine rollout, Schlosser encouraged Dabawenyos eligible for the booster shot to get vaccinated as soon as possible, while parents should inoculate their children with the primary doses in preparation for the face-to-face classes.
“Ang booster will give us additional 25 folds of immunity against Covid-19. It will also protect us from the severity of the disease. Ang atong tumong karon is maka-freely move ang tao pero dapat protektado siya through the vaccine. Dili gyod nato maiwasan na ma-infect. At least kung fully vaccinated and boostered sila, naa silay protection against the severity of the disease, so ang usual na makuha lang nila is asymptomatic or mild (Our goal is for the people to move freely but they have to be protected with the vaccine. We cannot avoid the infection entirely but at least, people are fully vaccinated and boostered, they have protection against the severity of the disease and they will only experience asymptomatic or mild symptoms),” Schlosser said.
Based on latest data, Schlosser said the booster dose administration has reached approximately 300,000, while fully vaccinated individuals are around 1.2 million.
She said some of the reasons causing the low turnout for the booster dose are the complacency of the people who are fully vaccinated, and the false information surrounding the booster dose vaccine.
According to Schlosser, the Covid-19 Task Force, along with other concerned local government agencies, will continue with the education and information campaign regarding the importance of the booster dose vaccination.
