President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday thumbed down the administration of third dose of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19 vaccine among fully-vaccinated individuals.
In his prerecorded Talk to the People, Duterte expressed dismay that there are some who are still not satisfied with getting the two vaccine doses against Covid-19.
He told those fully vaccinated individuals that receiving “multiple” shots of coronavirus vaccine is “dangerous.”
“You know, there are people really who are not contented or or not confident about second or third [Covid-19 vaccine] shot,” Duterte said partly in Filipino. “It is not good. Others want to feel secure. But any doctor will tell you that it is bad. Bad as bad. Imagine, you want multiple vaccine shots.”
Duterte said being inoculated with two doses of Covid-19 vaccine is already enough.
He added that getting a booster shot is not tantamount to having “full” protection against the coronavirus.
“Two doses are enough. Do not get multiple shots. It’s dangerous,” Duterte said partly in Filipino. “Others want second (third, fourth, and fifth vaccine dose. And it does not add really to the full protection of your body. You can even get contaminated again.”
Duterte also told fully vaccinated Filipinos that they would deprive others who want to get inoculated, should they get booster shots, considering the limited supply of vaccines in the country.
Duterte then called on fully vaccinated individuals to care for others who have yet to receive the Covid-19 vaccine jabs.
As of Wednesday, a total of 45.147 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered nationwide.
Around 21.103 million individuals have already been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, while 24.044 million others have received the first shot of the vaccine.
Duterte has approved the vaccination of the general population, including minors, in October to ramp up the government’s immunization drive.
Duterte expressed hope that the number of fully vaccinated individuals will rise to around 25 million by October.
“Major cities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao have reached the 34-percent mark in terms of fully-vaccinated individuals and several have almost reached 50 percent. The percentage of partially vaccinated individuals in various regions follow closely and we hope that this will increase in the coming weeks and months ahead,” he said.
