CARGO SECURITY. Airport cops stand guard as the latest shipment of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine arrives via Philippine Airlines at Ninoy Aquino Terminal 2 on Thursday night (Nov. 11, 2021). The shipment consisted of three million doses of government-procured jabs. (PNA photo by Jess M. Escaros Jr.)
MANILA – For the second straight day, the country injected more than one million doses of the coronavirus vaccine as 1,239,981 doses were administered on Thursday, according to the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid.
NTF chief, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., said the increase in the throughput signifies that the "economy will soon recover" from the impacts of the health crisis.
“We are very pleased to see that the hard work, determination, and concerted effort from all sectors of society have paid dividends and is bringing us closer to our goal of achieving a 1.5 million daily jab rate,” he said in a statement on Friday.
The latest data from the National Vaccination Operations Center showed that the Philippines has already administered 68,056,957 doses, with 31,020,380 Filipinos now fully protected.
The country's average daily vaccination rate recorded in the last seven days likewise increased to 748,839 doses, compared to the 300,000 to 400,000 average in the previous weeks.
On Wednesday, 1,052,600 were injected, a gradual rise from 749,424 on Monday and 817,010 on Tuesday.
Citing the increasing number of Covid-19 vaccines in the stockpile, Galvez said the vaccination program in all local government units (LGUs) nationwide will definitely expand.
“We are now building up the country’s momentum in inoculating millions of individuals in a single day. We will ensure that we will sustain this effort, as we continue to increase the capacities of our LGUs, address the lack of manpower in vaccination sites, and generate greater vaccine demand from our people,” Galvez said.
The vaccine czar noted that LGUs and the private sector help the national government make the vaccination drive effective.
“This is why we believe that the level of support coming from all levels of government as well as from the private sector should not waver and continue to intensify as we scale up our vaccination drive,” he said.
The Philippines has so far received 121,979,340 Covid-19 vaccines, both procured and donated, with 46 million doses arriving in the coming days. (PNA)
