WAITING FOR JABS. Caloocan City residents wait for their turn to get the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine at the parking area of a mall in Bagong Silang-Kanan on June 9, 2021. The Philippines started vaccinating economic front-liners and uniformed personnel on June 7. (PNA photo by Ben Briones)
MANILA – The Philippines ranked second among Southeast Asian (SEA) nations, 13th out of 47 in Asia, and 31st among 98 countries worldwide in terms of total doses of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines administered, according to a report of the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19.
The latest NTF data showed the Philippines had already administered 6,948,549 doses as of June 13, 2021, trailing Indonesia in SEA.
Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr., NTF chief implementer, bared the numbers during the regular Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang on Monday night.
A total of 5,068,855 have already received their first shots while 1,879,694 are now fully protected against Covid-19.
There are 3,942 vaccination sites nationwide.
"The Philippines is about to breach 7-million mark on vaccine administration," Galvez said.
About 89 percent of those vaccinated belong to priority groups A1 (health care workers), 17.59 percent are from A2 (senior citizens), and 34.25 percent are from A3 (adults with comorbidities)
The government targets to inoculate at least 16.5 million from the three priority groups.
The A4 vaccination of other front-liners and uniformed personnel will also open up the economy, Galvez added.
About 0.43 percent of this sector are already inoculated since the rollout started on June 7.
Galvez said the Philippines will be having a steady supply of about 10 million to 15 million doses monthly beginning July.
"More or less 45 million doses will be delivered during the third quarter," he said.
The Philippines had already received 12,705,870 doses, both donated and government-procured, with 10,374,850 already deployed nationwide.
The Philippines recorded 237,984 doses administered on May 21 — the highest daily number so far — and breached one million jabs per week for two consecutive weeks on June 7 and 13.
Galvez said the Philippines should acquire a stockpile of at least 10 million doses every month to ensure continuous vaccination drive. (PNA)
