Acting Cebu City Mayor Donaldo “Dondon Hontiveros (third from left) and City Health Department Head, Dr. Jeffrey Ibones lead the launching of another vaccination site in Robinsons Cybergate on November 17, 2021. | via Mae Fhel Gom-os
CEBU CITY, Philippines – While the Department of Health (DOH) already announced that fully vaccinated healthcare workers may now receive their COVID-19 booster shots, the Cebu City government said they have yet to announce when to start here.
On Wednesday, November 17, 2021, Dr. Jeffrey Ibones, head of the Cebu City Health Department (CHD), said they still have to convene with the concerned parties with regard to the rollout of booster shots.
Ibones noted that a lot of individuals have expressed interest to receive booster shots, which is why they need to plot how to strategize its implementation.
But the CHD head said they have not yet received vaccines allotted for booster doses, stressing that the only vaccine brand available as of now in the city is Sinovac.
“Wala pami bakuna [for booster doses]. Ang nahatag namo karon is less than 10,000 nga Sinovac. Unya for the first dose siya. Wala pa’y gihatag sa amoa nga intended gyud nga giingnan gyud mi nga kani nga vaccine among gihatag for booster dose,” he said.
Ibones, however, believes that they can make it happen should the DOH direct them to start inoculating the booster shots.
“Pero sige lang we will announce lang unya kanus-a ta magsugod. But if ever lang gyud moingon ang Department nga kinahanglan nata mosugod, with the vaccine available, I think kaya raman gyud sa Cebu City ang pag rollout sa atoang booster shots,” he said.
Dr. Minnie Monteclaro, president of Cebu Medical Society, for her part, said that they will always abide by the local government unit (LGU) and the DOH guidelines.
As frontline workers in the fight against the COVID-19, Monteclaro said they agree with the inoculation of booster shots as it has been proven by several studies and experienced in developed countries.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for four COVID-19 vaccine brands to be used as additional doses for fully vaccinated individuals.
The approved vaccine brands include Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, and Sputnik Light. All are homologous, except Sputnik Light which is heterologous.
Homologous vaccination means administering an additional dose from the same manufacturer that was used in the primary series, while heterologous vaccination is described as injecting the third dose from a different manufacturer. /rcg
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