The waning effectivity of Covid vaccines could leave even fully inoculated individuals vulnerable to the virus, according to the National Vaccination Operation Center (NVOC).
NVOC chairperson Myrna C. Cabotaje made the warning, noting the low number of fully vaccinated people availing of booster shots.
Of the 67 million who have completed their Covid-19 primary doses, only 12.69 million got their booster jabs.
“The additional protection is necessary since we know the immunity from vaccines wane as time goes by,” Cabotaje said.
She expressed her concern this could leave many people vulnerable to Covid-19 with the expected surge in infections next month after the May 9, 2022 polls, which health official are considering as a superspreader event.
The Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) already projected active Covid-19 cases could reach as high as 300,000 by mid year if there will be lax compliance to minimum health standards in the coming days.
Cabotaje said they are trying to increase the number of booster shot availment through their proposal to make it a requirement before a person’s vaccine status will be considered “updated.”
Currently, the health official lamented that the pace of the government’s vaccination drive slowed down as fewer people are now availing of Covid-19 jabs.
She said this now makes it unlikely for them to reach their goal of inoculating 90 million by July.
“We are now looking at the 77 million to be fully vaccinated and then improving our booster doses,” Cabotaje said.
“So, that will mean about 900,000 jabs per day. So, we really need to-ramp-up our vaccination drive,” she added.
Image credits: PNA/Pglena