Mindanaotoday.com | DOH-10: Booster prevents severe symptoms, even deaths
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Having the primary series of coronavirus vaccines does not shield one from infection, not even a booster shot, but these can prevent patients from severe symptoms and even deaths, a health agency regional official said Friday, September 23.
“We cannot understand why there are those who refuse to be vaccinated or get boosted,” said Dr. David Mendoza, Department of Health-10 (DOH-10) local health support services head, in a news forum in Cagayan de Oro.
Mendoza said daily infections in the region may have tapered down, but immune system-boosting vaccines are needed because face-mask wearing has been relaxed in open spaces and threats of variants exist.
He said health care workers, though fully vaccinated and boosted, still contract the virus because they are exposed to patients who may turn out positive for Covid-19, but these nurses, physicians and other hospital personnel were either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.
As of Thursday, 95% of the region’s more than 200 active cases are either unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated, including the recent two validated deaths, the DOH-10 official said.
Mendoza said full-vaccination should now include at least one booster shot after the primary series – first and second doses of Covid-19 vaccines – because the efficacy of vaccines would wane through time.
He said that aside from waning vaccine efficacy, coronavirus is novel and has been mutating into other variants which have been found to be more transmissible than the original strain that was detected two years ago.
These, he said, are among the reasons a five-day massive nationwide campaign, dubbed “Bakunahang Bayan: PinasLakas,” starting Monday, September 26, to speed-up the vaccine rollouts.
The health agency intends to hit twin targets: 90% full-vaccination of senior citizens, and 50% first-booster dose for 12 years old above on or before October 8 when the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. marks its first 100 days.
As of Thursday, September 22, the DOH-10 with local health offices have yet to administer the primary series of vaccine doses to 67,043 senior citizens, and first booster shot to 1,066,921 residents aged 12 years old and above.
“We need a miracle,” said Genena Jacot, the DOH-10’s expanded immunization program coordinator, when asked if these vaccination targets could be achieved in two weeks.
Regional and local health teams should have combined daily targets of 1,555 senior citizens and 28,818 general population (12 years old and older) for full vaccination and first booster shot, respectively, for Northern Mindanao to deliver.
So far, the region has fully vaccinated 283,923 (73.88%) of the targeted 384,313 senior citizens and given booster shots to 757,549 (21.20%) of 3,572,854 targeted population, aged 12 years old and above.
From Monday to Friday (September 26-30), the DOH-10 has set up five vaccination sites in Cagayan de Oro – Centrio Mall, Ororama Cogon, Gaisano City, SM Uptown, and City Mall Iponan – aside from those set by the City Health Office. (MT)
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