The authorities in Philippines are allowing the third dose of COVID-19 vaccination for healthcare workers and elderly people.
The decision comes even as at least three million of the Philippines’ elderly people have yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
World Health Organization (WHO) Philippine representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe made the disclosure a day after the Department of Health (DOH) allowed the administration of a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine for healthcare workers and the elderly people within the year and for other eligible priority groups by 2022.
The WHO has recommended administering a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine to senior citizens or those of 60-years old and above who got the Chinese vaccine Sinovac or Sinopharm as the first and second vaccine doses.
Abeyasinghe said, “ We should start on administering a third dose of vaccine on those most severely immunocompromised who are those aged over 80, then over 70, then over 60. That is our position now to maximize the benefit of the third dose,”
The Philippines started its COVID-19 vaccination program on March 1. It has started vaccinating minors aged 12 to 17 last October 15 in Metro Manila.
Abeyasinghe urged the LGUs (local government units) to ensure that they roll out the vaccines and prioritize the administration of shots.
Apart from health workers who form a priority group, elderly population, persons with commodities, essential workers and the members of the labor force and the general population will remain a focus.
