THE national government’s COVID-19 response team is eyeing to build a “wall of immunity,” a concept that seeks to provide a wall of protection by vaccinating a significant portion of the country’s population to prevent more infections, hospitalizations and virus mutations.
According to National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr., vaccinating Filipino children aged 0 to 17, whose population is estimated at about 39 million, is part of the national vaccination strategy which aims to achieve the “wall of immunity” concept .
Galvez said the concept is anchored on vaccinating at least 90 million Filipinos by the end of the second quarter of this year, administering booster shots to the eligible adult population, and vaccinating the children.
“In order to get an assurance that everybody is well-protected all the time, Mr. President, kailangan po talaga na patuloy po ang ating pagbabakuna ng karagdagang booster shots,” Galvez told the president during the Talk to the People session last Monday.
“Ito po ay para sigurado po na tuloy-tuloy ang proteksiyon at handa po tayo na kahit anong variant ang makapasok sa bansa ay mayroon po tayong tinatawag na series of wall of protection, of wall of immunity,” he added.
As of January 25, a total of 6,492,213 booster shots and additional doses have already been administered nationwide.
Various measures have been implemented by the national government in partnership with local government units and the private sector to ramp up booster vaccination, including the Resbakuna sa Botika at Klinika program which kicked off last week.
Following three days of the program’s pilot implementation in seven partner pharmacies and private clinics, a total of 2,242 booster shots have been administered.
“On the vaccine rollout of our pharmacies and clinics, we would like to thank the team of Secretary Vince Dizon, Usec. Myrna Cabotaje at saka ‘yung ating National Vaccination Operations Center and our T3 private sector partners, for the successful opening of Resbakuna sa Botika at Resbakuna sa Klinika,” Galvez said.
For his part, Presidential Adviser for COVID-19 Response Secretary Vince Dizon said the Resbakuna sa Botika at Klinika will be expanded outside Metro Manila following its successful pilot rollout.
“Sa Wednesday po kami po nila Sec. Duque at Sec. Charlie ay pupunta po sa Baguio. Tutulungan po natin ang City of Baguio dahil tumataas po ang kanilang kaso doon,” Dizon said.
“At one way of helping them, dahil po marami ngang nagkakasakit na vaccinator ay magbubukas po tayo ng dalawang initial na botika sa Baguio City, and then we will also open drugstores in other parts of Luzon and also the Visayas and Mindanao,” he added.
As of January 24, the Philippines has already administered a total of 123,866,249 vaccine doses. Of this number, 57,514,283 are already fully vaccinated.