DOH adjusts daily COVID-19 booster shot target to over 400,000

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5) — The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said it is seeking to inoculate 443,892 individuals per day with their first booster shot in a bid to reach the target of 23 million boosted individuals within the first 100 days of the new administration.

In a press briefing, DOH OIC Ma. Rosario Vergeire said they failed to inoculate more than 397,000 individuals per day since the launch of the government’s PinasLakas campaign last July 26.

Since the booster campaign was launched, Vergeire said that only 384,000 individuals have received their booster shots.

The PinasLakas campaign seeks to protect more than one million senior citizens by October 8. However, Vergeire said that only 17,000 elderlies have been vaccinated since the start of the program last month.

Hence, Vergeire said the DOH is also adjusting the daily vaccination target for senior citizens to 20,774 daily to meet the target number.

As of August 5, DOH data showed that more than 71.8 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Meanwhile, around 16.4 million individuals have so far received at least one booster dose.