MAYOR Honey Lacuna announced that the Manila city government will now be administering the bivalent vaccines for A1 (healthcare workers) and A2 (senior citizens).
In an advisory, Lacuna said that starting July 10 (Monday), the Manila Health Department (MHD) headed by Dr. Arnold ‘Poks’ Pangan is now accepting vaccination of Pfizer COVID-19 bivalent vaccines for the said priority groups.
She stressed though, that the jabs may be given only to those who have completed their primary COVID-19 vaccination along with their first and second booster.
The lady mayor said that the initial rollout of the bivalent vaccines was done in the six city-owned hospitals covering health workers and that now, the vaccination will already be done in the 44 health centers of the city where senior citizens may also avail of the shots.
Herself a doctor, Lacuna explained that the two booster shots are a requisite for one to be able to avail of the bivalent vaccine since the latter is considered as a third booster.
According to Lacuna, the city government of Manila maintains its ‘open policy,’ meaning, even those residing outside of Manila may avail of the shots if they belong to the eligible groups qualified as such by the national government.
It will be recalled that during the rollout of the bivalent vaccines, Lacuna noted the turnout to be low, attributing it to the easing of restrictions and the lifting of the public health emergency status by the World Health Organization.
Meanwhile the mayor appealed to health frontliners and specially the senior citizens of Manila to avail of the bivalent vaccine as she herself did, saying it will spell extra protection for them and their families. In the case of health workers, she stressed the need to also provide added protection to the patients they handle on a day-to-day basis.
