A total of 48,354 doses of bivalent Covid-19 vaccines have already been administered as of July 14, the health department advised.

From this, 43,464 doses were inoculated to the A1 or healthcare workers group, while 4,890 doses were for the A2 or senior citizens group.

The bivalent vaccine is being administered as a third booster shot for those in the A1 and A2 priority groups who received their second dose four months prior.

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So far, the country has received 391,860 doses of donated bivalent vaccines from the Lithuanian government and another 390,000 from the COVAX Facility.

During a press briefing on Monday, July 18, Department of Health Undersecretary Eric Tayag mentioned that there are appeals regarding the usage of bivalent vaccines as first and second booster shots.

The department is studying whether the proposal is feasible, he said.

Bivalent vaccines contain two mRNAs, which correspond to the original Wuhan virus and omicron variant lineages making it better protection against the Covid-19 virus.

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