Locate, inoculate unvaxxed seniors – Eleazar

MANILA, Philippines — The national government should locate and inoculate the remaining 1.8 million unvaccinated senior citizens and ramp up the administration of booster shots to the vulnerable sectors to prepare for a possible surge of COVID-19 in May.

This was recommended by former national police chief and senatorial candidate Gen. Guillermo Eleazar after the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed the detection of the first case of Omicron subvariant BA.2.12 in the Philippines.

This subvariant is about 2.5 times more transmissible than the Omicron variant, according to the DOH.

“With the entry in the country of the new subvariant of Omicron comes the danger of another surge in cases. We should know how to deal with this, considering we’ve been in this pandemic for the past two years,” Eleazar said.

“There are still 1.8 million unvaccinated senior citizens. Let’s locate them fast and urge them to get vaccinated against COVID-19,” he said.

“And let’s quickly administer booster shots to vulnerable sectors. Boostering of the adult population should continue, especially the health care workers, senior citizens and those immunocompromised,” he maintained.

Eleazar explained that these sectors – health care workers, senior citizens and immunocompromised individuals – should be given priority since they have the “burden of death.”

“They’re exposed to diseases, they have weak immune system and they’re likely to develop severe symptoms,” he said.

Eleazar also urged the public to continue obeying minimum public health standards to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases, which the DOH said could happen in mid-May.

“If health protocols are continuously ignored and if vulnerable sectors remain unvaccinated, the prospect of another lockdown stays,” he said. “Would you want us again to get that far?”