The accredited pharmacy for the “Resbakuna sa Botika” program in Marikina City is expected to serve a maximum of 200 recipients daily, Mayor Marcy Teodoro said on Thursday.

During the program’s launch at the Southstar Drug branch in Barangay Concepcion Uno, Teodoro said the program will help achieve the city’s target of administering 10,000 booster doses daily.

“In addition to this, inaasahan natin ang ginagawa dito sa Southstar Drugstore na Resbakuna ay magiging halimbawa o panimula para sa iba pang pharmacy o drugstore sa Marikina (We hope what is being done here at Southstar Drugstore Resbakuna will be an example for other pharmacies and drug stores in Marikina),” he added.

Teodoro, together with Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing, and Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. president and chief executive officer Robina Gokongwei-Pe led the rollout of the program.

The “Resbakuna sa Botika” aims to expand the mass inoculation drive and address the shortage of vaccinators amid the threat of new variants of Covid-19.

“Ang ‘Resbakuna sa Botika’ ay additional access point para sa mga gustong magpabakuna, mas convenient dahil kung sila ay bibili ng gamot, kayo ay nasa lugar na ito, makakapagbakuna na sila. Hindi na sila kailangang pumunta sa malayong lugar para magpabakuna. Sa ganitong paraan ay na-de-democratize natin ‘yung access to vaccination (Resbakuna sa Botika is an additional access point for those who want to get vaccinated. It is more convenient because they can buy medicine and get vaccinated at the same time. They no longer have to travel far to get vaccinated. In this way we have democratized access to vaccination),” Teodoro said.

Walk-ins are allowed, the mayor said, as long as there is an available supply of jabs.

Vaccine brands offered at the drug store are AstraZeneca and Sinovac.

Meanwhile, Gokongwei-Pe expressed thanked the city government and national government officials for tapping them to be a part of the initiative.

“We at the Southstar Drug are very happy to be part of the ‘Resbakuna sa Botika’ program. Covid-19 indeed is a challenge we collectively face. True to Southstar’s tagline, ‘We care a little more,’ we are glad of the solution through this initiative. Everyone’s health is valuable, and we will continue to support our government’s efforts in this pandemic,” she added.

On Wednesday, Presidential Adviser for Covid-19 Response, Secretary Vince Dizon said the government will soon expand the program in areas outside Metro Manila.

Aside from Southstar Drug, other participating major pharmacies and clinic networks are The Generics Pharmacy, Generika Drugstore, Healthway Clinic, Mercury Drug, Watsons, and QualiMed.

The government now targets 77 million Filipinos to be fully vaccinated by the end of the first quarter, after it has achieved the earlier target of fully vaccinating 54 million Filipinos last week.

“So, all we ask Filipinos is that we go to the vaccination sites, especially when we roll out to pharmacies in various places in the Philippines, it will be even easier,” he added. (PNA)