Senator Imee Marcos on Wednesday, Aug. 3 asked the Department of Health (DOH) to give Covid-19 vaccines and booster shots to any sector in need before they expire later this month.
Marcos, elder sister of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., stressed that billions of pesos were used in buying these medicines and that thousands are asking for booster shots throughout the country.
“Mawawalan na ng bisa ang nasa P5-bilyon pisong binili nating mga booster gaya ng Moderna sa July 27 (The booster shots like Moderna, which are worth P5 billion, would lose their efficacy on July 27). Ipamigay na yan para mapakinabangan kaysa mabasura na lang, please lang (Give them away so they could be of good use instead of their being thrown into garbage bins, please),’’ Marcos emphasized.
This means that as of this posting, the batch of vaccines that the lady senator was referring to had already expired.
There are also Pfizer booster shots aside from Moderna that are also nearing their expiry dates, she said.
Marcos noted that there is a daily rise in Covid-19 infections throughout the country.
‘’Dahil sa kawalan ng sapat na pondo lalo na ng ating LGUs (local government units) sa Metro Manila at mga probinsya, wala pa silang pang-booster shot sa mahihirap nating mga kababayan (Aside from their lack of funds, LGUs in Metro Manila and the provinces also lack booster shots for our countrymen),’’ Marcos said.
Marcos said that at present, 2,646 Covid-19 infections were recorded by the DOH.
The National Capital Region (NCR) recorded its highest Covid-19 infections in the past two weeks with 14,821 cases, she noted.
Calabarzon followed with 9,715 cases; Central Luzon with 4,551; Western Visayas with 2,642; and Central Visayas with 2.,022.
Marcos also asked the administration not to wait for Covid-19 cases to surge before giving booster shots.
The DOH had reported that two cases of the "Centaurus" virus of B.A. 2.75 sub-variant were recorded in Region 6.