JABS. A Philippine Airlines flight lands with 1 million doses of Sinovac jabs at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 in Pasay City on Saturday (Aug 21, 2021). The government aims to inoculate as many as 700,000 daily depending on supplies. (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)
MANILA – The government commitment to deploy additional Covid-19 vaccines to the National Capital Region (NCR) and other high-risk provinces will be boosted by the scheduled delivery of 20 to 25 million doses in September.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the bulk of supply next month will be used to increase the allocation to the NCR Plus 8 (Bulacan, Laguna, Batangas, Cavite Pampanga, Rizal, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao), other areas in Region 4-A (Calabarzon), Region 3 (Central Luzon), Region 6 (Western Visayas), Region 7 (Central Visayas), Davao Region, and priority areas that will arise.
"We will be receiving another 5 million within the month. We will be able to support them with enough supply," Galvez said during a media briefing with Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque at a mall in San Mateo, Rizal on Monday.
Four million doses from different pharmaceutical companies delivered last week have been "equitably deployed" to provinces nationwide.
"That's what we are doing now. At least we already have enough supplies for NCR Plus 8. We are now pushing or we will shorten the gaps between the different regions," he said.
To date, the government has already secured over 165.4 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines composed of donations; purchase by the government, private sector and local government units; and those released by COVAX Facility. (PNA)
