Video courtesy of PTV

MANILA - The Philippines' COVID-19 vaccination has "plateaued" to 200,000 daily jabs since March, the Department of Health said Friday.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos has instructed the DOH to ramp up COVID booster uptake as virus cases rise and immunity wanes, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.

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All regions have yet to administer booster shots to 50 percent of their target population, said the DOH spokesperson and interim chairperson of the National Vaccination Operations Center.

Metro Manila is the closest to reaching the target, having vaccinated 43 percent of its target population, Vergeire added.

"Ilalapit po natin sa mga komunidad ang mga bakuna. Kasama po dito ang paggawa ng pagsusuyod sa mga lugar na malayo. We will go house-to-house for our senior citizens," she said in a televised briefing.

(We will offer vaccination closer to the communities. This will include going to far-flung areas.)

"We will be mobilizing and asking help from the DOH, Department of Labor and Employment, DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) at sa iba pang ahensya ng gobyerno para maging whole of government approach pa rin tayo."

(We will be mobilizing and asking help from the DOH, DOLE, DILG and other agencies so the approach will still be whole of government.)

Vaccination and getting an additional dose against COVID-19 ensures protection against severe and critical illness, Vergeire said.

"If you don’t have severe and critical disease, you won't get hospitalized, most likely you won't die from the disease," she said.

As of Tuesday, the Philippines has fully vaccinated 70.8 million individuals, of whom 15.2 million have received an additional dose, according to Vergeire.

Some 895,000 health workers, elderly, immunocompromised and persons with comorbidities have gotten a second booster shot, she said.