As the country seeks to fully vaccinate 90 million individuals by the end of June, National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19 special Adviser Dr. Teodoro “Ted” J. Herbosa disclosed they are now in talks with the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) for the possibility of making Covid-19 vaccines available at private clinics.

The national government will conduct the Fourth National Covid-19 Vaccination Day, dubbed as “Bayanihan, Bakunahan”, on March 10 and 11 to immunize more people, Herbosa said.

“ PMA ino-offer ‘yung kanilang 80,000 members para tumulong sa national government para mabigay ng bakuna sa kanilang mga pasyente (The PMA is offering their 80,000 members to help the national government to administer Covid-19 vaccine to their patients),” he said during a “Laging Handa” briefing on Friday, March 4.

“Pinag-uusapan namin ngayon ‘yung coordination para ma-distribute nang by chapter at by region ‘yung mga bakuna na puwedeng ibigay sa kanilang private clinic (We are now talking about the coordination for the distribution by chapter and by region of the Covid-19 vaccines that can be given in their private clinic),” the NTF special adviser added.

Citing the success of the Covid-19 vaccination at pharmacies, Herbosa expressed bullishness that such will also help the government to immunize more people with the help of the 80,000 members of PMA.

“Magandang tulong ito. Nakita natin ‘yung success nung pagbabakuna sa botika, in fact, na-exceed ‘yung target namin (This is a great help. We’ve seen the success of the Covid-19 inoculation at pharmacies, in fact, it exceeded our target),” he said.

The NTF medical adviser against Covid-19 said they are pushing for the immunization of around two million senior citizens who are still unvaccinated.

During the conduct of the fourth vaccination drive, he said the government is also aiming to boost the immunity of more vaccinated individuals by having them get a third shot or a booster shot, stressing that this is an important strategy to fight Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Herbosa has urged the public to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and avail of the booster shot in order to further fortify their immune system.

“Magpabakuna na po tayo, epektibo po ang bakuna, nakaabot tayo sa Alert Level 1 dahil sa bakunahan. Pangalawa, ang atin mga children five to 11 ay pabakunahan natin, marami po tayong bakuna para sa kabataan (Let's get vaccinated, the vaccine is effective, we have reached Alert Level 1 because of the vaccination. Secondly, let’s have our children five to 11 vaccinated, we have many vaccines for them),” he appealed.

As of press time, he said 64.3 million people have been fully vaccinated against the dreaded disease in the country.