Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination in parts of Visayas and Mindanao which were hit by typhoon “Odette” will resume once they are rehabilitated, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said.

Galvez made the assurance during the “Talk to the People” public address of President Duterte on Tuesday night, Dec. 21, as he stressed that the country faces an even greater risk than the typhoon, the Omicron variant. At least three cases of the new strain of the coronavirus have been detected in the country.

“Tuloy-tuloy po ‘yong pagva-vaccinate natin kahit nga po na nakita natin na nagkaroon po tayo ng Typhoon Odette (Our vaccination continues even after we had typhoon Odette),” he said.

“We really sympathize the LGUs and also to the people who have suffered a lot. But nakita natin na (we have seen that) we have to move on considering that we have a greater risk of the Omicron,” he added.

The government is hoping that it will hit its target of vaccinating seven million individuals in the second leg of the National Vaccination Days from Dec. 15 to 17.

An extension was scheduled from Dec. 20 to 22 to accommodate residents in areas that were affected by the typhoon but some regions have yet to begin with the second wave of the massive immunization drive due to the effects of Odette.

As of Dec. 21, the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) said a total of 5,056,186 individuals have already been inoculated nationwide as part of the “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” 2.

Due to Odette’s impact, Central Visayas (Region 7), Eastern Visayas (Region 8), Caraga (Region 13), and some areas in Mimaropa (Region 4B) postponed the National Vaccination Days so they can focus on relief and rehabilitation, according to Galvez.

But he assured that it will be conducted once these areas have already rebuilt their communities to help contain the spread of the Omicron variant.

He also lauded the shortened interval for the administration of booster shots as approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The interval of the administration of booster shot was cut from six months to three months for those who received two doses, and from three months to two months for those who had single dose in the primary series of vaccination.

“Do not underestimate Omicron. So one message is that, preparation is key,” he said.

“I have some reports right now from our experts that already 75 percent of the cases in US has been dominated by Omicron. I believe we can prevent Omicron from if we will really massively vaccinate particularly 'yong mga A2 and A3 with our boosters,” he added, referring to senior citizens and comorbids.