The San Juan City local government launched on Thursday, July 28, the 2nd Covid-19 booster shot for immunocompromised individuals aged 18-49 and the general population 50 years old and above amid the rise in Covid-19 infections in Metro Manila.
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora, together with Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Marlo Iringan, Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary OIC of Public Health Services Team Dr. Beverly Ho, and DOH NCR Regional Director Dr. Gloria Balboa, led the vaccination program held at VMall Greenhills.
“With the active cases on the rise, we are one with the DOH’s call in increasing vaccine coverage nationwide to protect our people and prevent another surge from happening,” Mayor Zamora said and added, “I am encouraging my fellow San Juaneños, especially those who are qualified and due for their second booster, to register and get your booster shot as soon as you can," Zamora said.
He added that qualified vaccine recipients are those who have received their Covid-19 shots at least four months after their first booster shot and must have received other vaccination at least two weeks before receiving their second booster shot.
They are also reminded to bring a valid ID and their primary and booster vaccination cards on the day of their scheduled vaccination.
The city government said it will administer Pfizer vaccines for the priority groups as San Juan still has 41,000 doses of the brand allocated for the booster shots. It added that the city government will first prioritize San Juaneños to be boosted and will open for non-residents later.
The mayor explained that being vaccinated protects an individual from getting hospitalized and experiencing severe symptoms of the virus.
"Dito sa San Juan, naranasan na namin ang epekto ng isang mataas na vaccination rate sapagkat sa puntong ito, 265 percent na po ang aming fully vaccinated at 98 percent naman po ang meron nang booster (Here in San Juan, we are experiencing the positive effects of having a high vaccination rate because as of this moment, we have already fully vaccinated 265 percent of our population and 98 percent of our population have received their first booster shot)," Zamora said.
"Tayo po ngayon ang nangunguna sa buong Pilipinas at nakikita natin ang epekto nyan sa atin sa pamamaraan ng pagbabalik ng ating buhay na normal. Bagamat nagkakaroon tayo ng kakaunting kaso parin, nananatiling mild or asymptomatic lamang sila (We are leading in the vaccination program in the Philippines and we can see its effect as we are now drawing closer in living our lives normally. Despite the increase in our active Covid-19 cases, they still remain mild or asymptomatic)," he added.
The mayor said that out of the 127 active cases in San Juan, 126 of them are mild or asymptomatic.
The city government said residents may register for their 2nd booster shot by using the link found on Zamora's official Facebook page, or by scanning the QR code.
Meanwhile, San Juan still offers first booster shots to residents and non-residents. They may register at the city’s vaccine registration portal and wait for their schedule of vaccination.
VMall Greenhills, the city’s main vaccination site, is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The second site is located at the city hall’s Multipurpose Hall and is open Tuesday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.