Philippine government to make COVID-19 booster shots available in pharmacies

After organizing National Vaccination Days to bolster the country's vaccination numbers, the national government is now taking it a step further by planning to provide booster shots to pharmacies around the country.

According to the country's vaccination chief Carlito Galvez Jr., the government will work with pilot pharmacies in the National Capital Region to roll out booster shots starting January 21. No dates have been announced as to when the initiative will extend beyond the National Capital Region.

Pharmacies that were named by the government as part of the initiative include Mercury Drug, Watsons, The Generics Pharmacy, Generika Drug Store, Southstar Drug, QualiMed, and Healthway.

Those looking to get their booster shots from these pharmacies need to be 18 years old and above and part of the following priority groups: workers in essential health services who have no comorbidities, overseas Filipino workers and healthcare workers' family members without comorbidities, workers in essential services, the poor population, and the rest of the adult population.

The national government rolling out booster shots to pharmacies comes after the Department of Tourism began its rollout of booster shots for tourism workers. According to the department, half of the hotel staff in the National Capital Region have already received their booster shots.

The country's heightened efforts in distributing coronavirus booster shots comes in the midst of a surge of positive cases in the country. The surge is likely brought about by the omicron variant, the first three cases of which were first discovered in the country last year.

Meanwhile, check out celebrities that have already gotten their coronavirus vaccine shots in the gallery below.