President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his son, Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, got booster vaccine shots Wednesday morning at SM Manila in a show of support for the launch of the Department of Health’s PinasLakas booster vaccination rollout.
“The reason I am here is to express my full support for the PinasLakas program, as we laud all medical workers who have worked to heal us all and save lives, and help us get back to normal,” Marcos Jr. said in his speech.
The President was given his booster shot by Health department OIC Ma. Rosario Vergeire, while Sandro Marcos received his shot from Manila mayor Honey Lacuna, who is also a medical professional.
Vergeire thanked the President for his support and said that the DOH is targeting to inoculate 90 percent of the total population of senior citizens and 50 percent of the entire population within the first 100 days of the Marcos Jr. administration.
“Sisikapin naming maabot lahat ng lugar, eskwelahan, malls, barangays, palengke, transportation terminals at iba pa upang mailapit sa tao ang bakuna,” said Vergeire.
Lacuna, meanwhile, noted that the city of Manila has been working tirelessly to ensure that the vaccines are administered to the populace quickly. Once vaccines became available, Manila spearheaded innovative measures such as drive-throughs, walk-ins and door-to-door visitations by health personnel; it also conscripted sites such as schools, health centers and malls as vaccination sites, eventually allowing the city to exceed the DoH’s target vaccination rate of 100 percent, said Lacuna.