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Davao City readies rollout of 2nd booster shot

By Christine Cudis

April 29, 2022, 6:00 pm

<p><strong>GET BOOSTED.</strong> The city government of Davao calls on residents to get the second booster shots as immunity from vaccines might wane over time. A city health official says Friday (April 29, 2022) the immunocompromised population aged 18 and above will be the first to receive the second booster dose against coronavirus disease 2019.<em> (Photo courtesy of Davao CIO)</em></p>

GET BOOSTED. The city government of Davao calls on residents to get the second booster shots as immunity from vaccines might wane over time. A city health official says Friday (April 29, 2022) the immunocompromised population aged 18 and above will be the first to receive the second booster dose against coronavirus disease 2019. (Photo courtesy of Davao CIO)

DAVAO CITY – The immunocompromised population aged 18 and above will be prioritized in the second booster dose against coronavirus disease 2191 (Covid-19) once the stocks for this city arrive, a local health official said Friday.

 Dr. Josephine Villafuerte, Covid-19 Task Force Vaccination Cluster head, said the doses may arrive as soon as the National Capital Region (NCR) has started administering the second booster shots.

“No schedule has been fixed yet, but we already received the guidelines on the administration of the second booster dose from the National Vaccination Operation Center (NVOC) so we are getting ready,” Villafuerte said.

The Department of Health’s (DOH) Interim Operational Guidelines on the Administration of Second Covid-19 Vaccine Booster Doses to Immunocompromised Population (ICPs) states that ICPs who are 18-years-old and above are eligible to receive it.

Individuals who seek to receive the vaccine will have an option to get a “homologous booster shot” or the same vaccine as previously administered, or the “heterologous booster shot” for the dispensation of a different vaccine.

However, Villafuerte clarified everything still depends on the availability of the vaccine brands.

The Covid-19 vaccines with approved emergency use authorization (EUA) issued by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and approved for use as a second booster are Pfizer, Moderna, Sinovac, Sinopharm, and AstraZeneca.

The second booster dose is administered at least three months after the first booster dose.

Villafuerte urged residents to "practice a sense of urgency" in getting vaccinated with booster doses as the “immunity wanes”.

“We have Covid-19 cases here who received the vaccines but did not get the booster doses. This means the level of immunity has waned, so getting booster shots are a must,” she said.

Considering the newly-detected Omicron BA.2.12 subvariant, DOH has also urged the public to have the booster shots immediately. (PNA)

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