Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 21) — The government has exceeded its target for the pilot launch of “Resbakuna Sa Botika” after the first four participating pharmacies administered 422 booster doses on Thursday, Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. noted.
“Based sa assessment…very successful kasi ‘yung ating initial is 50 to 100 lang ‘yung ating inaasahan na per pharmacy, pero ang maganda may mga nag-go beyond 100,” said Galvez during the second day of the program’s vaccination rollout at QualiMed’s branch in Makati City. “This is a good sign na nakita natin na magiging maganda ‘yung rollout namin this coming few days.”
[Translation: Based on the assessment, (it was) very successful because our initial (target) was 50 to 100 per pharmacy, but some have gone beyond that. This is a good sign that our rollout will be good in the next few days.]
Galvez stated the tally of the administered doses, with Generika Drugstore having used up 110 doses, Southstar Drug 172, Mercury Drug 80, and Watsons, 60.
The pharmacies will receive around 500 doses in total per day as the government wishes to limit the volume temporarily for safety reasons and to avoid wastage, he explained.
Tapping pharmacies proved to be necessary given that more healthcare workers in hospitals are getting sick.
“Sa ngayon na nakita natin ‘yung Omicron, maraming mga healthcare workers ang nainfect. We need additional manpower,” the secretary shared.
[Translation: Now we’ve seen that due to Omicron, many healthcare workers got infected. We need additional manpower.]
Galvez also reminded that vaccinees should register for the program first before dropping by the participating drugstore to get their doses so as to keep the process orderly.
The Resbakuna Sa Botika program will continue expanding throughout Metro Manila in the next few days and probably reach other regions by the second or third week, the secretary added.
The initial target was only about 50 to 100 shots administered per pharmacy.
