By Kris Crismundo | Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) will expand the “Resbakuna sa Botika” in Baguio City on Wednesday (Jan. 26), Presidential Adviser for COVID-19 Response Vivencio Dizon said.
Reporting to President Rodrigo Duterte during the Talk to the People Monday (Jan. 24) evening, Dizon said the NTF would help accelerate the rollout of booster shots in Baguio City amid the rising COVID-19 cases there.
“Because many vaccinators are getting sick, we will initially open two pharmacies in Baguio City,” Dizon said in Filipino.
Last week, the NTF launched the “Resbakuna sa Botika” in Metro Manila, which aims to bring the COVID-19 booster shots closer to the public by making drugstores vaccination sites for booster jabs.
Among the participating pharmacies in Metro Manila include Mercury Drug, Watsons, The Generics Pharmacy, Generika Drugstore, Southstar Drug, and Rose Pharmacy.
Private clinics such as QualiMed and Healthway also participated in this initiative under the “Resbakuna sa Klinika”.
Dizon described the pilot run a success, replicating this initiative in other parts of the country.
The NTF reported that some 2,242 booster shots were administered during the two-day pilot run of “Resbakuna sa Botika at Klinika” in the National Capital Region.
“I think the success of the pilot of the ‘Bakuna sa Botika at Klinika’ shows us the way forward,” Dizon said. “(W)e have pharmacies in all corners of the country. This is really the way forward.”
Meanwhile, Dizon expressed his support to the recommendation of Senator Christopher Lawrence Go to give incentives to pharmacists, who will administer COVID-19 booster shots under this new vaccination initiative.
He added that they would discuss the matter with the Department of Health and the National Vaccination Operations Center. (PNA) -ag
