To raise the number of people who have received their third dose of Covid-19 shot, the national government is planning to make booster vaccination mandatory and having a booster card as an additional requirement in various establishments.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Tuesday, March 8, that these new strategies that aim to increase the number of people getting their booster shots were already presented to President Duterte, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the administration’s economic managers.
“We are also looking at the possibility na talagang i-require ‘yung booster (to require booster ,” Galvez said during a vaccination program in Makati City.
“May mga nagsasabi na baguhin na ‘yung definition ng fully vaccinated. Meaning, kapag sinabing fully vaccinated, mayroon tayong at least three series of vaccines (There are some sectors suggesting to change the definition of a fully vaccinated . This means that if you say someone is fully vaccinated, s/he has at least three series of vaccines),” he added.
Galvez has long been advocating for implementing a vaccine mandate. He was also the one who backed the economic sector’s proposal to require a vaccination card in establishments like malls, restaurants, and others.
“We will make it as an incentive for the people who already have their boosters,” he said.
After Duterte heard the proposal, Galvez said the Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) has started tackling the new strategies to raise the booster vaccination rate.
Prior to this, the vaccine czar lamented the low turnout of the booster vaccination program during Duterte’s Talk to the People address on Monday night.
Out of the 63,690,890 fully vaccinated individuals so far, Galvez had said only 10,554,093 have returned to the vaccination sites to get their booster shots.
But making booster vaccination a requirement to raise the vaccination rate is expected to meet strong opposition from certain stakeholders.
When the Department of Transportation made vaccination a requirement in public transport back in January of this year, the agency received flak from labor and transport groups that insisted Covid-19 vaccination remains to be voluntary.
Certain government agencies such as the Department of Justice also raised concern on implementing a vaccine mandate, saying it might violate certain rights of an individual.