MORE than three million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the Philippines, according to an official.
National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. on Tuesday, May 18, said that the country has utilized a total of 3,114,847 doses since March 1.
Meanwhile, NTF Against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer and testing czar Secretary Vince Dizon said that the government is prioritizing the immunization of residents in Metro Manila, Pampanga, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Batangas, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.
Dizon added that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the recommendation of Galvez to expand its vaccination program to include frontline workers.
“Inaprubahan na ng ating pangulo ang expansion natin sa economic frontliners at national government frontliners, ‘yong tinatawag natin na A4 category, sa mga susunod na linggo (The president has approved our expansion to include economic frontliners and national government frontliners, what we call the A4 category, in the coming weeks),” he said.
Likewise, the inoculation of individuals under category A5 (indigent) may begin in June.
Previously, Galvez suggested that vaccines procured from the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility can be used for priority groups under categories A1 (health care workers), A2 (elderly), A3 (persons with comorbidities), and A5 groups.
Meanwhile, vaccines bought by the government can be used on people under A1 to A4.
The government is eyeing to target 500,000 daily vaccinations to achieve herd immunity in areas worst hit by COVID-19 by November 27
“The supply we need to sustain 500,000 jabs per day is…15 million per month,” Galvez said in Filipino.
The COVAX facility is set to deliver to the country 2.2 million of Pfizer-BioNTech and two million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines between May and June.
The country is also expecting 500,000 jabs from China’s Sinovac Biotech and 1.3 million Sputnik V vaccines from Russia.
“So far, the delivery of COVAX facility is currently stable and our other procured vaccines are coming in,” Galvez noted.
