Around 28 to 30 million Filipinos remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, Malacañang disclosed on Tuesday.
Acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said the number includes three million senior citizens or those aged 60 and above.
Nograles called on the public to get vaccinated and avail of the booster shot after three months of their second dose for two-dose COVID-19 vaccine and two months after the one-dose Janssen vaccine.
“All vaccines work, regardless of the brand. Why do we need the vaccine and the booster when we could still get infected with it after? The protection that the vaccines provide comes not just in the form of reducing the likelihood of infection but also risk of developing severe symptoms,” Nograles said.
In Metro Manila, the government has implemented a number of measures to limit the mobility of unvaccinated individuals including the ‘no vaccine, no ride’ policy in public transportations.
The Philippines has officially announced that Omicron has replaced Delta as the dominant variant of the COVID-19 in the country.
The variant was found to transmit at a much faster rate, according to the World Health Organization.
Though it is more contagious, it is not yet clear whether the variant causes more mild or severe disease than the Delta strain.
Omicron has prompted governments across the world to intensify campaigns on booster shot administration.
