(File photo)
MANILA – The Philippines has set another record in its vaccination program as a total of 702,013 Covid-19 vaccine doses were administered on Aug. 3, the highest daily throughput the country has recorded so far.
“We are very happy with this accomplishment. What we projected for the second quarter was just 500,000 jabs daily and the 700,000 mark was our goal for the fourth quarter,” National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said.
Galvez said because of the relentless efforts from the healthcare workers, local government units and the private sector, more doses have been administered as early as August. “This is really a product of collaboration and cooperation among all sectors. Bayanihan at its finest.”
The latest figures were released following the submission of the updated vaccination records of various implementing units across the country.
“Our initial tally was just 673,652 but we received updated records from various regions on their output for Tuesday including NCR, which was able to administer 203,000 doses in a single day,” Galvez said.
Of the more than 700,000 doses administered, 233,065 were given as the first dose, while nearly half a million doses were dispensed as the second shot.
This brings the total number of doses administered to 21,912,142, of which 12,073,567 shots were given as the first dose.
The total number of fully vaccinated Filipinos nationwide has reached 9,838,573 million.
Galvez said the high vaccination rate for the second dose of Covid-19 shots can be partly attributed to the deployment of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine across the country.
The vaccines, which were donated through the sharing agreement between the United States and COVAX Facility, were allocated for the A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (persons with comorbidities) groups particularly those residing in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.
“We want to keep this momentum as we continue to push for more vaccine deliveries this month. Even with the ECQ, we will continue to increase our vaccination capacity in an orderly and efficient manner, while ensuring that minimum public health standards are observed so that the well-being of our fellow Filipinos will not be compromised,” Galvez said.
Vaccine supply
Galve said 22.7 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines are expected to be delivered this month.
Out of this number, 3.4 million doses have been shipped to the country, while the delivery of 14.7 million shots has been assured by different manufacturers and sources.
The assured vaccine deliveries include doses procured by the national government from Sinovac, Pfizer and Moderna.
Also included in these deliveries are the shots secured by the private sector from AstraZeneca and Moderna, as well as the donation from China consisting of one million doses of Sinopharm.
“We are still negotiating with other manufacturers, as well as with COVAX on the number of doses we need on a monthly basis, which is at least 25 million doses,” Galvez said.
“With the latest vaccination output, we are more determined to work on increasing our vaccine supply to ensure that we will be able to beat Covid-19. Bayan Everyone Acting Together,” he added. (PR)
