MANILA — The Philippines will begin distributing bivalent COVID-19 vaccines to healthcare workers and senior citizens next week, the Department of Health said Friday.

The modified jabs will be launched through a ceremony at the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City on June 21, which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will attend, the DOH said.

The Philippines received early this month some 390,000 doses of the adapted version of the original vaccine from Lithuania.

Those eligible for the first phase of bivalent vaccine rollout include healthcare workers and senior citizens who received their second booster shots at least 4 to 6 months ago.

• DOH distributes bivalent COVID-19 vaccines to regional offices

The DOH urged eligible Filipinos to get inoculated with the bivalent vaccines, which are modified jabs that target both the original and omicron strains of the virus.

"Despite the decreasing trend of the COVID-19 positivity rate of 11.6 percent in the National Capital Region as of June 10, we still encourage all eligible individuals to get vaccinated as the threat of infection still continues," Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said in a statement.

• Metro Manila's COVID-19 positivity rate down to 11.6 pct - OCTA

He stressed that vaccines were proven safe and effective, and also given for free.

"People should not be complacent, especially the senior citizens who are high-risk individuals and persons taking care of those with COVID-19," Herbosa said.

The donated bivalent vaccines are set to expire on Nov. 23.

• Donated COVID-19 bivalent vaccines to expire in November: DOH

Latest DOH data showed that some 78.4 million Filipinos were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Of the figure, over 23.8 million have received their first booster dose while almost 4.4 million have gotten the second booster shot.

The Philippines on Thursday logged 528 new coronavirus infections, raising its tally to 4,157,172. Of the figure, some 9,783 are active COVID-19 cases.

RELATED VIDEO

Watch more News on iWantTFC