Pateros Mayor Miguel Ponce III said people should get their booster shots amid the emergence of the so-called “Deltacron,” a hybrid between Delta and Omicron variants, and surge of cases in other countries.
Ponce emphasized this as the Pateros municipal government and Jollibee launched the “Resbakuna” booster vaccination program at Jollibee branch in the municipality on March 14 together with Regional Director Gloria Balboa of the Department of Health-National Capital Region.
The booster vaccination at Jollibee will allow walk-ins but only for those without comorbidities.
“Only yesterday, I was reading a news article about a surge of Covid-19 in China. The number of cases is increasing. Recently, ‘Deltacron’ was detected in other countries. So what does this mean? This indicates that we are not yet finished with our battle against the pandemic of Covid-19,” said Ponce.
He said “we should continue in rolling out services to ensure protection for the public, all citizens of the Philippines.”
The mayor said while the vaccination rate in Pateros for the first and second doses for 12 years old and above is more than 100 percent but the booster shot rate is low.
He thanked Jollibee for agreeing to be a partner of the Pateros municipal government in administering booster shots.
Balboa said the vaccination rate for the primary series in the NCR is more than 100 percent but the booster shot rate is low.
She said the public should not be complacent as the immunity that a person gets from the first and second doses gradually decreases over time and the booster shot is needed to bring back the protection.
During the “Laging Handa” public briefing on March 12, Health Usec. Myrna Cabotaje was asked about how the DOH was preparing for “Deltacron.”
“Just like before, we are intensifying our genome sequencing to see if has already entered the country,” she said.
More importantly, she said, people should get vaccinated as “it’s really the game changer and will afford additional protection for our citizens considering that protection wanes after a long time after vaccination.”