To clear all doubts, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. finally clarified Saturday night, Jan. 22, that walk-ins are now allowed to get their coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines in pharmacies and private sector clinics.
Galvez said that individuals who want to get their booster shots may pre-register at their chosen clinic or pharmacy but added that walk-ins “can be accommodated provided there are still sufficient vaccine supplies.”
However, he encouraged unvaccinated individuals to go directly to vaccination centers in their respective communities since they have bigger allocation of vaccines.
“As much as possible, kapag first dose siya pwede naman ma-accommodate sa clinic kasi mayroon silang mga doktor at response team (for those getting first dose, they can be accommodated in clinics because they have doctors and response team there),” Galvez said.
“But for the pharmacies, considering na wala silang doktor at mayroon lang silang response ambulance, ang strategy natin is talagang naka-program (considering that they don’t have doctors and what they only have is a response ambulance, our strategy is really programmed),” he added.
The government launched the “Resbakuna sa Botika” vaccination program on Jan. 20 and 21 where individuals can now get their anti-COVID shots in at least seven pharmacies and clinics in Metro Manila.
Through the program, pharmacies are now allowed to administer COVID-19 booster shots to all eligible adults while clinics can administer both primary shots and booster doses.
The vaccine czar pointed out that the vaccination program will enable the national government to get the COVID-19 jab to the arms of more Filipinos as partner pharmacies have thousands of outlets strategically located and spread across Metro Manila.
As of January 21, a total of 422 booster shots have been administered since the launching of the program on Thursday.
Of these doses, 110 were administered at Generika; 172 at SouthStar Drug; 80 at Mercury Drugstore; and 60 at Watsons.
The government eyes the expansion of the program in other pharmacies and clinics in Metro Manila this week, and in other regions next week.