[ad_1]
The Philippines is on track with its COVID-19 inoculation campaign, the government’s head of vaccine strategy said on Sunday, responding to criticism that the rollout has been slow as concerns mount about a surge in new cases.
The Health Department reported 4,899 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, a day after recording the largest single-day increase in more than six months with 5,000 additional infections.
The latest tally brought the country’s total confirmed cases to 621,498, among the highest in Asia, and the reported death toll rose by 63 to 12,829.
Secretary Carlito Gálvez, who is in charge of the government’s vaccine procurement program, said that nearly 90% of the more than 1 million doses that have arrived so far have been deployed across the country.
“[The government] he is on the way to implement his immunization program and optimistic that he will be able to achieve his goal of inoculating around 70% of the country’s population this year, “Gálvez said in a statement.
As of March 11, the eleventh day since the start of the vaccination campaign, the government counted only 114,615 people who received the first dose of the vaccine.
Galvez defended the current pace, saying vaccines will accelerate once the immunization campaign reaches full scale.
“It is not logical to calculate the performance evaluation from the beginning of the mini-deployment. We will be able to get our baseline vaccination rate when we begin our massive community deployment in May and June, ”he said.
The country’s vaccination campaign began on March 1 with 600,000 Sinovac injections donated by China. The Philippines also received 525,600 initial doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX facility.
The total volume is only a small fraction of the 161 million doses the government plans to purchase to inoculate between 50 and 70 million Filipinos this year.
With a limited supply, only frontline medical personnel and healthcare workers receive vaccinations at this time.
The increase in cases has prompted the mayors of Metro Manila to re-impose localized closures and night curfews for two weeks starting Monday.
In Quezon City, the most populous city in the capital region, additional restrictions will apply, including a ban on alcoholic beverages and the closure of gyms, spas and internet cafes. – Reuters
