The country’s health experts are studying the proposal to redefine the term “fully vaccinated” as those who received the primary series of a Covid-19 vaccine and a booster dose.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Friday said the country would follow whatever definition was most widely used by other countries.
“Ito po ay masusi nang pinag-usapan ng ating mga eksperto with our technical advisory of experts at bukod diyan tayo po ay nag-research na. Tiningnan po natin ang mga iba’t-ibang experiences across the different countries in the world,” she said in a Palace briefing.
Vergeire said the Philippines could adopt what the US government did, which is to label boosted individuals as “up-to-date” vaccinees.
More than 72 percent of the country’s target population are considered fully vaccinated against Covid-19, but only 12.92 percent have been boosted as of March 31.
“Ang main reason kung bakit ayaw pa rin hong mairekomenda ng ating mga eksperto na baguhin natin ang definition ng fully vaccinated because it’s going to cause confusion since marami pa rin ho tayong mga kababayan na hindi pa rin po bakunado,” Vergeire said.
“Kaya gusto lang ho nating ipatupad kung ano iyong mas pina-practice po sa ibang bansa, mas may ebidensiya tayo at sa tingin natin ay mas makakabuti para sa ating mga kababayan. So in the coming days, we will be issuing out an advisory para po dito para informed lahat ng ating mga kababayan,” she added. John Ezekiel J. Hirro