The Department of Health (DOH) said it is eyeing to roll out the second booster dose against COVID-19 on April 20 at the National Capital Region once the final recommendation of the Health Technology Assessment Council is given.

''Our target is to start giving the second booster dose on April 20 at the NCR,'' Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje told dzBB on Sunday.

''If this can be rolled out next week or last week of April, we will be able to vaccinate less than two million,'' she said.

Cabotaje said the National Vaccination Operations Center has draft guidelines on giving booster shots.

On Wednesday, the DOH said the Food and Drug Administration allowed the emergency use authorization of the second booster dose against COVID-19 for seniors, persons with comorbidities and healthcare workers.

Cabotaje said it is important to get the booster shot. '' The level of protection of vaccines against COVID-19 goes down,'' she said.

''Many are waiting for this (second booster shot),'' added Cabotaje.

She said there should be an interval of four months between the first booster shot and the second booster shot.

As of March 30, there are 12 million Filipinos who have availed of a booster shot while those with two primary series vaccinations totalled 65.9 million. DMS