Fifty million Filipinos have yet to receive their first booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccine, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire once again urged eligible individuals to get their booster shots to better protect themselves against the viral disease.
“All over the country, we only have 26 percent out of all the eligible population na bakunado ng first booster shot (vaccinated with the first booster shot),” said Vergeire on Wednesday, Dec. 7.
“So imagine these 50 million na mga Filipino na wala pang first booster shot (50 million Filipinos who do not have their first booster shot yet) can very well have their critical illnesses because of Covid-19. At iyon ang ayaw nating mangyari (And we don’t want that to happen),” she added.
Based on the DOH’s vaccination dashboard, a total of 73,821,941 people have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. However, only 21,102,493 individuals have been boosted as of Dec. 6.
Vergeire reminded the public that the protection from the first two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine wanes over time.
“Isa sa mga layunin kung bakit tayo nagbabakuna lalo na ang ating booster shots ay dahil nasabi na ng ebidensya na bumababa ang immunity ng una at pangalawang doses natin (One of the reasons why we are having vaccination, especially our booster shots, is because the immunity from the first and second doses go down and this is based on evidence),” she said.
“So, kailangan i-boost uli yung ating sistema para tumaas uli ang proteksyon (We need to get a booster to increase our protection once again),” she added.
Aside from additional protection, getting the booster shot can also prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, said Vergeire.