The Department of Health (DOH) announced on Friday its plans to introduce bivalent COVID-19 vaccines to healthcare workers and senior citizens next week, June 21.
In preparation for the bivalent vaccine campaign, the DOH strongly encouraged eligible individuals to get vaccinated.
The bivalent vaccine targets both the original strain of the virus — COVID-19 and its Omicron subvariants.
The initial rollout of the bivalent jabs will focus on health workers and senior citizens who received their second booster shots at least four to six months ago.
Health Secretary Ted Herbosa emphasized the importance of not being complacent, especially among high-risk individuals such as senior citizens and caregivers of COVID-19 patients.
"Despite the decreasing trend of the COVID-19 positivity rate of 11.6% in the National Capital Region (NCR) as of June 10, we still encourage all eligible individuals to get vaccinated as the threat of infection still continues," Herbosa said.
"People should not be complacent, especially the senior citizens who are high-risk individuals and persons taking care of those with COVID-19. Vaccines are proven to be safe, effective and free. I am encouraging all eligible to get boosted in the vaccination sites nearest to you. In the fight against COVID-19, no one should be left behind," he added.
Earlier this month, the Philippines received a donation of over 390,000 bivalent vaccine doses from Lithuania, which will remain valid until November.
According to the latest data from the DOH, more than 79.1 million individuals have completed their COVID-19 vaccination, but only 24.1 million people have received booster shots.
OCTA Research released their most recent findings on Thursday, indicating that the COVID-19 positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) has dropped below the 10% threshold, standing at 9.4% as of Tuesday.
