A PANEL of vaccine experts recommended the administration of a second booster dose for the elderly and immunocompromised individuals.
Dr. Ted Herbosa, medical adviser of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF), confirmed that the Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) recommended that a 4th dose or second booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine be administered to senior citizens and the immunocompromised.
During the Laging Handa public briefing, Dr. Herbosa said that the VEP already submitted its recommendation to the Technical Advisory Group and all experts for their review.
He said it would be best to just wait for the results of the study and if it would be approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
For now, Dr. Herbosa said that what is recommended is to have booster shots or 3rd dose for those 18 years old and above.
There are now at least 10.5 million who have already received their booster shot based on latest data from the Department of Health (DOH), Dr. Herbosa said.
On the other hand, around 63.4 million individuals have been fully vaccinated already.
He also added that Bayanihan Bakunahan Part 4 will be launched next week, which he hopes will achieve the target of 77 million fully vaccinated Filipinos by March 31.