The national government aims to expand the “Resbakuna sa Botika” coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination program nationwide by mid-February, National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 special adviser Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa said on Saturday, Jan. 22.
“Resbakuna sa Botika” or COVID-19 vaccinations in selected Metro Manila drugstores, is an initiative of the government in hopes of ramping up the country’s inoculation drive, making the vaccines accessible for Filipinos.
“One week itong trial. Sa first week, ang hope namin ay i-expand sa buong National Capital Region (NCR) so lahat ng branches nila sa NCR, at by the middle of February ay hopefully, ma-launch na nationwide (This is a one week trial. In the first week, we hope to expand the vaccination across all the branches of our partner drug stores in NCR, and by the middle of February, we hope that it will be launched nationwide),” said Herbosa in an interview over DZBB.
The National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) initially partnered with seven drug stores and clinic networks located in Metro Manila namely Generika, Healthway, Mercury Drug, QualiMed Health network, Southstar Drug, TGP (The Generics Pharmacy), and Watsons.
Only booster doses for individuals 18 years old and above, except for senior citizens and individuals with comorbidities, were administered in the pharmacies. Pre-registration is required to avoid mass gatherings, said Herbosa.
Meanwhile, Herbosa added that in the near future, an ‘administration fee’ may be placed when availing COVID-19 vaccinations at drugstores.
“Sa ngayon ay okay sa kanila na libre itong proseso na ito, in fact may discount card pa nga kapag nagpabakuna ka sa kanila. Pero may usapan din na kapag dumami na yan ay syempre... naging usapan din na baka in the future ay maari bang magpatong ng administration fee (For now it’s fine with our partner drugstores that this process is free. In fact there are discount cards available when you get vaccinated in their store. However, there is also a discussion that when the number of people who wanted to get vaccinated increases, of course, maybe in the future – an administration fee may be added),” Herbosa said.