BIVALENT VACCINE. Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa on Wednesday (June 21, 2023) receives a bivalent vaccine as booster shot at the Philippine Heart Center. About 500 healthcare workers and employees of the hospital also received their shots. (PNA photo by Rey Baniquet)
MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday started the administration of bivalent vaccines against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) to healthcare workers.
The vaccination was launched at the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City where 500 healthcare workers and employees received the jabs that offer protection against the original virus strain and the Omicron variant and subvariants.
“The heart of our Covid-19 vaccination program is the protection first of our defenders against Covid-19 and also the most vulnerable,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said in his speech.
“We are always grateful for and inspired by the strong support that no less than our honorable President has for vaccination that saves lives.”
Herbosa was among those who first received the bivalent shot.
For his part, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who was present at the rollout, said getting vaccinated is not only good for the one who received it but also for the protection of one’s family and the public.
“Let this occasion serve as a call to every Filipino to continue doing your part [and] get updated on your Covid-19 vaccination to prevent a resurgence, (and) as a means of honoring those who sacrificed their lives during the pandemic,” he added.
So far, the DOH has received 391,860 doses of Comirnaty Pfizer-BioNtech-adapted bivalent vaccines from the government of Lithuania on June 3.
The doses were allocated to all DOH-Centers for Health Development and the Ministry of Health-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
They will be given as third booster dose to the priority groups such as healthcare workers and elderlies and shall be administered in designated health facilities.
Healthcare workers and elderlies who received second booster doses four to six months ago are eligible for the initial rollout of bivalent jabs.
The DOH has yet to report the latest number of individuals who were fully vaccinated against Covid-19, have received their booster shots with the monovalent vaccines, and its target population for bivalent vaccines inoculation among the healthcare workers and elderly.
Continue wearing masks
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church's Health Care Commission reiterated the importance of wearing face masks for protection from various types of illness.
Camillian priest Dan Cancino, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Health Care (CBCP-ECHC), said the wearing of face masks will not only help protect Filipinos from coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) but also from the effects of pollution.
"Our masks, it can be a barrier. It's not just Covid that you're avoiding. It can protect from smoke, as well as from other diseases such as tuberculosis. So, if you can see, (it) really has many benefits," the Catholic priest said in an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas Wednesday.
Cancino noted that the proper dissemination of information will help people to better understand that it is good to wear a facemask as an additional protection against diseases.
He added that the purpose of information dissemination is to awaken awareness and intensify the discipline of the public in the care of their health as well as that of others.
"The conscientization, increasing that awareness is really very important. Because one might think that he/she will just wear a mask because of Covid, what if there's no more Covid, does it mean that we’re no longer wear masks? But if your resistance is low, do the right thing for your loved ones and also for our people," the CBCP-ECHC official said.
At the same time, he instructed the public to continue to follow the minimum public health standards and vaccination because there are many possibilities of contracting diseases just because of being complacent in the environment.
Based on the latest report by the Department of Health, there are currently 8,600 active cases of Covid-19 in the country. (with Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)
