Phl breaches 6 million mark of administered COVID-19 vaccine doses — vaccine czar
Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (PAPRU) and National Task Force against Coronavirus Disease-2019 (NTF COVID-19) chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. listens as President Rodrigo Roa Duterte presides over the meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Compound in Davao City on June 7, 2021. JOEY DALUMPINES/ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
The Philippines has breached the six million mark of administered COVID-19 vaccine doses as a result of the government’s aggressive vaccination strategy against the coronavirus, the country’s vaccine czar said.
In
his report to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Monday, Secretary Carlito Galvez
Jr. said among those inoculated were 1.3 million healthcare workers, 1.5
million senior citizens, 1.4 million individuals with comorbidities, and over
12,200 economic frontliners.
More
than 1.5 million are now fully protected, having received two doses of COVID-19
jab, he noted.
Galvez,
who is also the National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer, said
that at present, the Philippines is administering more than 200,000 vaccine
doses daily.
While
the rest of the country’s adult population are being inoculated, Galvez said
pediatric vaccination may not be far from sight, citing ongoing studies or
approvals of vaccine brands Sinovac, Pfizer, and Moderna aimed at inoculating
ages 3 to 17, 12 to 15, and 12 to 17 years old, respectively.
Eleven
other vaccine brands have ongoing clinical trials for pediatric use as well, he
noted.
According
to Galvez, immunizing the country’s younger population, which is around 29
million, will pave the way for the reopening of face-to-face classes.
Meanwhile,
the government’s massive vaccination will continue unhampered with expected
vaccine deliveries in the coming months, the vaccine czar said, noting the
country expects to receive one million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from China’s
Sinovac on June 10, one million doses on June 17, and 2.5 million doses by the
end of the month.
The
country is also negotiating with Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Center of
Epidemiology and Microbiology to ensure the delivery of 100,000 doses of the
Sputnik-V vaccine on June 9, Galvez noted.
The
World Health Organization-led COVAX facility, on the other hand, will donate
two million doses of Pfizer vaccine on June 10, 250,000 doses of Moderna jabs
on June 21, and two million doses of AstraZeneca on the third week of June.
There
will be a steady supply of vaccines throughout July, Galvez said, with the
expected delivery of 4.5 million doses from Sinovac, additional one million
from Moderna, one million doses from AstraZeneca, and another 4.5 million doses
from Sinovac to be delivered on July 21.
Once
negotiations with vaccine manufacturers and the COVAX facility are successful,
Galvez said he is optimistic that Philippines will receive around 17 million
doses of COVID-19 vaccines this August and an unhampered supply in the next
quarter. PND