Makati City Mayor Abby Binay on Monday, May 23, urged the public to get their 2nd Covid-19 booster shot amid the entry of the much more transmissible Omicron BA.4 variant in the country.
On May 21, the Department of Health (DOH) announced that a Filipino citizen who flew in from the Middle East last May 4 tested positive for the subvariant which is said to be more transmissible because of its ability to evade immune protection induced by prior infection or vaccination. The agency called on the public to get themselves vaccinated and boosted against the virus.
"Sa ngayon ay nagbibigay na tayo ng ikaapat na dose ng bakuna o second booster shot para sa mga Makatizens na nabibilang sa A1 (medical frontliners and essential workers) at A2 (senior citizens) (We are now administering the fourth dose of the vaccine or second booster shot for Makatizens included in the A1 and A2 priority groups)," Binay said.
"Hinihikayat ko po ang lahat ng mga nasa kategoryang ito na magtungo na agad sa ating mga Bakuna Makati sites upang magkaroon ng dagdag proteksyon laban sa Covid-19 (I am calling on everyone included in the said categories to proceed to our Bakuna Makati sites for them to be inoculated and receive additional protection against Covid-19)," she added.
The list of Bakuna Makati sites can be found in the city's official Facebook page.
On April 25, the local government unit (LGU) started giving its residents the second Covid-19 booster shot after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health (DOH) gave the greenlight for its administration to immunocompromised individuals. It launched the administration of the second booster shots to the A1 and A2 priority groups on May 19.
As of May 23, a total of 530,318 Makatizens have been fully vaccinated in Makati City while a total of 254,455 individuals have already been boosted.
The Makati Health Department (MHD) recorded 13 active Covid-19 cases. It also tallied 52,908 recoveries and 1,019 deaths as of May 23.