MANILA, Philippines, January 18 ------ Pharmacies and private clinics will be tapped as vaccination sites to accelerate the country’s COVID-19 inoculation program, the government’s vaccine czar said. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government will roll out booster shots in select pharmacies in Metro Manila on January 21. His presentation during the meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte, however, indicated the rollout will start on January 20. The program will be expanded to additional sites in the capital region and other regions.
Booster shots will be available in Mercury Drug, Watsons, The Generics Pharmacy, Generika, South Star Drug, QualiMed and Healthway, according to Galvez. Pharmacies have been used by other countries to rapidly vaccinate their citizens. Galvez also said that malls and mega vaccination centers such as the one in Nayong Pilipino will be tapped for the rollout of boosters.
“We will prioritize the administration of boosters to ensure the safety of priority groups from A1 to A5 and the rest of the adult population. But majority will be coming from the private sector, A4,” the official said. “This is our way forward: to hand over the responsibility of vaccination from the national government-centered to its complete devolution to the LGUs and the private sector in the preparation for the future commercialization of the vaccine,” he added.
Since March 2021, nearly 55.2 million people have completed vaccination against COVID-19, while 58.8 million have received partial protection. The government has administered 4.9 million booster shots.
Source: philstar.com
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