By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Negros Occidental Provincial Health Office (PHO) received additional supplies of COVID-19 booster shots, but public distribution of the vaccines is still pending.

PHO officer-in-charge Dr. Girlie Pinonggan said they are still awaiting the Department of Health’s (DOH) directive regarding the distribution.

The booster shots they received are Pfizer second booster and bivalent booster shots.

Pinonggan explained the bivalent or third booster shots could provide protection against new strains of COVID-19, compared to the previous booster shots.

However, the bivalent shots will be initially given to frontliners before the vaccination of the senior citizen population.

Based on latest PHO data, Negros Occidental recorded three new COVID-19 cases, bringing up the total active cases to 121.

The PHO confirmed that COVID-19 cases are now at 45,497, with recoveries at 43,296 and deaths at 2,079.

The DOH has yet to declare the pandemic is over in the Philippines.

In May, the World Health Organization declared an end to the COVID-19 global health emergency due to a downward trend and increasing immunity due to highly-effective vaccines./DGB, WDJ