The Department of Health (DOH) has administered 66,576 first booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the Visayas and Mindanao on the first day of the Special Vaccination Week.

The vaccination week started Sept. 26.

“Mayroon ding inclement weather sa ibang bahagi ng Visayas kaya ‘yung iba hindi rin sila masyado nakapag-push through ng maramihan sa vaccination (There was also inclement weather in other parts of the Visayas and so some areas were not able to push through with vaccination),” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing.

“But in any case, we were able to have 66,576, and we thank all the local government units (LGUs) in Visayas and Mindanao na katulong natin sa special vaccination days na ito (that helped us during these special vaccination days),” she added.

Vergeire clarified that the LGUs were not provided “extra” Covid-19 jabs as they have stored vaccines in their warehouses.

All regions have enough supply of Covid-19 vaccines, she said.

To compensate for the postponement of the campaign in Luzon due to Typhoon Karding, the special vaccination days will be extended until Oct. 1.

The DOH, through Department Memorandum No. 2022-0420, said the vaccination campaign is recommended to resume on Sept. 27 “upon the discretion of the concerned regional directors in coordination with the LGU counterparts”.

As of Sept. 22, the PinasLakas Campaign has vaccinated 38,691 senior citizens out of the 1.07 million target for this age group.

It has provided first booster doses to 2,933,208 individuals of the 23 million fully vaccinated.

There are 19,283 PinasLakas vaccination sites nationwide. (PNA)