IMMUNOCOMPROMISED PATIENTS LUKEWARM ON SECOND BOOSTER

ONLY 239 individuals availed of the second booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccine since the start of its rollout in April 2022 in Cebu City.

Jeffrey Ibones, chief of the Cebu City Health Office (CHO), said on Tuesday, May 17, that for now, the additional booster shot is exclusive only to persons who are immunocompromised.

According to Ibones, immunocompromised individuals include those under an immunocompromised state such as HIV patients, active cancer or malignancy, transplant recipients, those undergoing steroid treatment, patients with poor prognosis or bedridden patients, and other conditions of immunodeficiency as certified by a physician.

“I do not know what the reasons are (why they do not want to receive the second booster). There are just some who do not like it, but we will still encourage them to be vaccinated (with the second booster),” Ibones said in Cebuano.

Ibones added they were already coordinating with hospitals so that these immunocompromised patients will no longer have to go to the vaccination centers and just have the vaccine administered inside the hospital.

The CHO is also partnering with oncologists and specialized doctors to encourage more immunocompromised individuals to avail of the second booster dose, said Ibones.

For those interested to be inoculated with the second booster, Ibones said they only have to present a medical certificate showing that they are immunocompromised.

As of May 16, data from the CHO showed that the overall vaccinated individuals in the city reached 844,084 or 117.23 percent of its 719,000 targeted population.

Meanwhile, the number of individuals who got their first booster shot was at 135,782 out of the 160,410 qualified persons.