The government will change its strategies to strengthen its national vaccination program against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), a health official said Monday.

This, after the third edition of the “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” Covid-19 vaccination drive which ran from February 10 to 18 failed to reach its 5 million target population.

“Nasa 3.447 million, about 68.94 percent ‘no. At marami tayong natutunan na iyong mga hamon dito sa pagbabakunahan (It’s 3.447 million, about 68.94 percent. And we learn a lot from the challenges of this vaccination),” Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said in a televised public briefing.

Cabotaje, also chief of the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC), said the government will bring the vaccination sites closer to the people, especially in areas where many are not yet inoculated against Covid-19.

“Pangalawa, iyong urgency ng booster; so, kailangan natin pag-ibayuhin iyong ating adbokasiya ano iyong (Secondly, the urgency of the booster; so, we need to strengthen the advocacy about the) advantage of a booster,” she said.

The third wave of the national vaccination drive aims to provide booster shorts for over 3 million individuals or two-thirds of the target population.

“Pero ang sumipot lang ay 1 million kasi di nila nakikita yung urgency, alam nila may importansya yung bakuna, alam nila importante ang booster pero di nila alam yung urgency (But only 1 million showed up for the booster shots because people don’t see the urgency of receiving it, they know the importance of vaccines and booster, but they do not understand the urgency),” Cabotaje said.

She added only 19 percent of the senior citizens and 44 percent of healthcare workers have received their booster shots. Both are priority groups in the national government’s vaccination campaign.

“We need to adjust by area and by sector kung ano ‘yung kailangan nating gawin (on what we need to do) for booster,” she said.

The NVOC has observed many do not want to receive booster shots because they cannot afford to miss a day or two from their work.

It has also seen a brand preference among those registering for booster shots during the last wave of the national vaccination drive.

“Marami pa rin ‘yung ating mRNA, Pfizer, AstraZeneca. Marami rin ang tumanggap ng AstraZeneca at may ilan din na tumanggap ng Sinovac (We still have a lot of mRNA, Pfizer, AstraZeneca. Many received AstraZeneca and some received Sinovac),” Cabotaje said. (PNA)