Fully vaxxed adults can receive boosters starting Dec. 3 —DOH

The government will start administering COVID-19 booster shots to all fully vaccinated adults on Friday, December 3, the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Thursday.

"Those who have completed their primary series of COVID-19 vaccines can be inoculated with the following brands regardless of which vaccines taken in the first two doses," the DOH said on Facebook.

Brands that will be used are Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Sputnik, and Janssen.

In a message to reporters, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said fully-vaccinated individuals who received Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, and Sputnik must wait for six months before getting their booster shots.

Meanwhile, individuals vaccinated with Janssen must wait until three months before receiving a booster dose.

Here are the following heterologous booster dose combinations of the DOH:

• Sinovac (primary series) — AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna (booster)
• AstraZeneca (primary series) — Pfizer, Moderna (booster)
• Gamaleya Sputnik V (primary series) — Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna (booster)
• Pfizer (primary series) — AstraZeneca, Moderna (booster)
• Moderna (primary series) — AstraZeneca, Pfizer (booster)
• Janssen (primary series) — AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna (booster)

The DOH said the homologous or same vaccine brand vaccination for Sputnik and Janssen is not yet up for implementation.

At present, the government is administering boosters only to those under A1 category (frontline healthcare workers), A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (adults with comorbidities).

"The National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) will issue operational guidelines on its implementation," the DOH said.

The Philippines began the inoculation of seniors and immunocompromised individuals with boosters shots on November 22 while healthcare workers started receiving booster shots on November 17.

Booster shots are given when immunity is starting to wane off after several months since receiving the vaccine.

The development comes as the Philippines prepares for the possible entry of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus that is said to be more transmissible. --with Joahna Lei Casilao/KBK, GMA News