THE Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center –Task Force (EOC-TF) will start administering booster shots against coronavirus disease (Covid-19) to fully vaccinated senior citizens and persons with comorbidities in December 2021.

Em Ang, executive director of EOC-TF, said Friday, November 19, that based on the national guidelines, the booster shots for senior citizens will be on December 9, while for persons with comorbidities on December 13.

“For now, we are giving the booster shots for the Priority Group A1 or healthcare workers who are working in the hospitals,” Ang said.

She said they already allocated vaccines for the hospital-based healthcare workers, as well as staff members of the City Health Office.

Ang noted that from November 17, hundreds of hospital-based healthcare workers already availed themselves of the booster shots.

The official said on Thursday they also opened a special lane for the booster shots at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central.

EOC-TF records showed that Bacolod City has a total of 16,400 fully vaccinated healthcare workers.

“We are expecting that all of them will avail the booster shots because we have enough supply of vaccines,” Ang said.

Under the Emergency Use Authorization issued by the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health recommended the use of Moderna, Pfizer, and Sinovac as booster doses regardless of the brand used for the primary series.

Sinovac will also be offered as a booster for those that had such brand of vaccine as primary series, the FDA added.

Aside from malls, Ang said, the City Government will also open all barangay vaccination sites for the national vaccination program from November 29 to December 1.

She said the City Government was given to reach 66,000 individuals to be vaccinated in the three-day vaccination program activity or 22,000 individuals per day.

“We will try our very best to inoculate as many as we can and we are hoping to be able to inoculate as many vaccinees as possible on those days,” she added.