Special COVID-19 vaccination days extended until October 1

MANILA, Philippines — The government’s special COVID-19 vaccination drive will be extended until Saturday after the launch of the campaign in Luzon was suspended due to Typhoon Karding (Noru), the Department of Health said.

The DOH issued a memorandum extending the special vaccination days until October 1 “to compensate for the postponement of the campaign.” The campaign aims to help address the low uptake of COVID-19 boosters in the country.

The Monday launch of the drive called “PinasLakas Bakunahang Bayan” was postponed in Luzon, which was ravaged by Karding. But it pushed through as scheduled in Visayas and Mindanao.

Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, officer-in-charge of the DOH, said that 66,576 people have received their first booster shots on the first day of the immunization campaign in Visayas and Mindanao.

Latest figure from the DOH showed that more than 73 million Filipinos have completed vaccination against COVID-19. However, only 19.2 million people have received their first boosters and almost 2.8 million have gotten their second boosters.

Vergeire also said that no COVID-19 vaccines were damaged during the onslaught of Karding—the strongest tropical cyclone to hit the country this year.

However, 12 facilities were damaged by the typhoon.

“The damage was just minor,” Vergeire noted, adding there were no disruptions in health services in Karding-affected areas.