ILOILO City – Second vaccine booster shots against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are being rolled out in Western Visayas with the city government here being the first local government unit in the region to do so.
The priority recipients are the immune-compromised populations (ICPs) at least 18 years old, according to John Richard Lapascua, senior health program officer of the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6.
Who are these immune-compromised individuals?
Lapascua said the interim guidelines on the administration of the second booster shot specified the following:
* those with immunodeficiency state;
* those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
* those with active cancer or malignancy
* organ transplant recipients
* those undergoing steroid treatment
* patients with poor prognosis / bed-ridden
* other conditions of immunodeficiency as certified by physician
The recipient may choose his or her second booster shoot as homologous or heterologous.
A homologous second booster shot is the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine from the same brand used in the first booster shot, while a heterologous shot uses a vaccine brand different from the first booster shot.
A recipient may choose from the following COVID-19 vaccine brands recommended by the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) – Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Coronavac (Sinovac), and Sinopharm
Lapascua said the second booster shot must be given at least three months after the third dose or first booster shot.
Local government units with enough vaccine supply may roll out second booster shots in their rural health centers or designated vaccine centers, he stressed.
House-to-house vaccination may also be done for bedridden patients and hard-to-reach eligible individuals, said Lapascua.
In Iloilo City, the second booster shots are available in all district health centers, said city focal person for COVID-19) Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna.
“(The booster shot) is important because we know that our immunity also gradually wanes,” he said.
But Fortuna clarified that the city government has vaccines to accommodate all types of inoculation and not just for boosters.
“Our health centers are open not only for the second booster but also for the first booster and regular immunization covering five to 11 and 12 to 17 years old and our adult population,” he said.
Iloilo City, according to DOH data, has 46,435 adults with comorbidities eligible for booster shots. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
