To encourage more Filipinos to get booster shots against Covid-19, an adviser of the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 agreed to a suggestion for “deadlines” to be printed on vaccination cards.
These “deadlines” will indicate a certain date when an individual has to receive his or her booster dose. The suggestion was first made by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion.
In a “Laging Handa” briefing, NTF adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa said the government was looking for ways to increase the number of Filipinos inoculated with booster shots.
“Actually, maganda iyon para ma-encourage at ma-incentivize ang mga mamamayan na magpa-booster na,” Herbosa said, referring to Concepcion’s recommendation.
“Parang noong nag-Alert Level 3 tayo, pinigilan natin sumakay sa public transport iyong walang vaccination no. Iyon ang daming nagpabakuna noon actually,” he added.
Government officials have been lamenting the low demand for booster doses.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said Filipinos had become complacent, and that the country’s vaccination rate had been on the decline since November 2021.
The government is aiming to have 70 million Filipinos fully vaccinated before April and 90 million fully vaccinated by the end of June to achieve population protection. John Ezekiel J. Hirro