President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. received his second Covid-19 booster shot on Wednesday, August 17, as he stressed the importance of the additional dose in bringing the Philippines back to its pre-pandemic situation..
Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire administered the President's Pfizer booster dose at the DOH's PinasLakas Vaccine Campaign site at SM City Manila. He got his first booster four months ago.
Presidential son Ilocos Norte First District Representative Sandro Marcos also got his booster shot. Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna, a medical doctor, administered his shot.
In his speech before his inoculation, the President hoped the people would get their booster shot after seeing him do so.
"Hopefully, this will trigger a reaction from our people, and that we will be able now to see that the take up of our vaccination rollout will be higher," he said.
Data from the DOH National Covid-19 Vaccination Dashboard showed that 17,152,939 booster shots had been administered as of August 16.
According to Marcos, the need for people to get booster shots became more apparent due to the appearance of Omicron subvariants. He said the additional doses are essential to restore normalcy in the country.
"That is really why I came here today to highlight the importance of having a booster shot," he said.
"To show everyone it is safe, it is effective, and it is needed. With us trying to open the economy, us trying to open the schools, trying to bring everything back to a normal situation, and the importance that this booster will play in bringing us back to that condition," he added.
LOOK: Father-and-son President Bongbong Marcos and Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative Sandro Marcos receive their booster shots. Health OIC Vergeire and Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna administered the shots. ( RTVM Screenshot) @manilabulletin pic.twitter.com/CSeGwjqE1S
— Argyll Cyrus Geducos (@argyllcyrus_MB) August 17, 2022
President Marcos said they are encouraging the people to get additional shots to prevent future lockdowns.
"Ayaw naming mag-lockdown, gusto talaga namin matanggal na ang mask na protocol. Lahat 'yan hindi natin maaabot 'yan kung hindi tayo magpa-booster shot ngayon (We don't want lockdowns and we want to remove the mask protocol. But we can't do that if not all of us will get the booster shot)," he said.
"We have many elements that are going to be important -- back-to-school, certain parts of the economy. Para maging ligtas tayo, para maging safe tayo, kailangan talaga (For us to be safe) -- we have to encourage everyone to have a booster shot para masasabi natin na (so we can say that we are) fully immunized," he added.
So far, the DOH has launched more than 18,900 'PinasLakas' vaccination sites nationwide. These include markets, schools, workplaces, terminals, places of worship, and mobile vaccination sites.
The government aims to fully vaccinate 90 percent of the senior citizen population and increase booster dose coverage to 50 percent of the total population before President Marcos marked his 100th in office on October 8.