MANILA - Booster shots for patients who tested positive for COVID-19 can be administered once they finish their isolation period and when their symptoms subside, the health department said Saturday.

• READ: Recovering from COVID-19? Here's what to consider if going home, back to work

"So we had been advising our general public, as long as you have no symptoms and completed your isolation period, kayo po ay pwedeng makakuha ng booster shot," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.

COVID-19 patients who are experiencing severe symptoms and those who are immunocompromised, regardless of vaccination status, have to isolate 3 weeks since the onset of symptoms, new guidelines released by the Department of Health (DOH) showed.

Those who are asymptomatic or experiencing moderate or mild symptoms should isolate for 10 days if they are partially vaccinated or unvaccinated.

Those who are probable COVID-19 cases (with symptoms) or who have mild symptoms must go in isolation for 7 days if they are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 patients who test positive for the disease, and are fully vaccinated, must also isolate themselves for 7 days since the onset of symptoms, according to DOH.

The Philippines is currently experiencing a surge of COVID-19 cases most likely driven by the omicron variant.

Earlier in the day, the DOH logged over 39,000 new infections, the highest daily tally since the pandemic began.

The Philippines has fully vaccinated more than 54 million individuals against COVID-19 or 70 percent of the target population, a government task force said on Friday.

A total of 58.5 million individuals have received their first dose, while over 4.4 million others already got their boosters, government data showed.

The country has received a total of 213.6 million doses of different COVID-19 vaccine brands, of which more than half or some 117.3 million have been administered.

• READ: Task force: PH fully vaccinates 54 million individuals vs COVID-19, 70pct of target population

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Video from PTV