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MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines could achieve the herd immunity of 70 million vaccinated people in a year if it can inoculate 450,000 per day, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Monday.
“That (achieving herd immunity) depends on the supply of vaccines. If we have about 140 million vaccine doses, it would probably take 11-12 months to do that, ”Duque said in a media forum. “Maybe five to six months for the first dose and four to five months for the second dose.”
The forum was held after the launch of the three-year grant from the European Union worth P130 million to support the response to the Philippine pandemic.
To reach this goal, Duque also said there should also be 4,500 vaccination sites serving 100 vaccine recipients per day.
That’s 450,000 a day. So you divide 70 million Filipinos to be vaccinated, which equates to herd immunity, it will take you about 159 days and if you divide it by 26 days, assuming Sundays are off, that’s six days a week, so you will do it in five. six months for the first dose and four to five months for the second dose, ”he explained.
As of March 13, the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program has vaccinated 193,492 people, Duque said. The new coronavirus vaccination campaign in the country began on March 1 after China’s donation of 600,000 doses of CoronaVac from Sinovac Biotech arrived.
“That comprises 34 percent of our 1.125 million vaccines that have arrived,” he noted.
Some 487,200 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca arrived in the country on March 4, followed by an additional 38,400 doses on March 7.
AstraZeneca vaccines were provided to the Philippines through the Covax Facility, a global vaccine exchange group led by the World Health Organization.
Health workers are being given priority in launching the vaccine, but vaccination for the general public is expected to begin between late April and early May.
KGA
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