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The government must administer a COVID-19 vaccine to 250,000 to 300,000 people per day to meet its goal of vaccinating 50 million Filipinos during the year, the Deputy Chief of Implementation of the National COVID-19 Task Force said Wednesday, Vince Dizon.
Dizon made the announcement with vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., currently in India, in a bid to secure 30 million doses of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, which is an American brand but is manufactured at the Serum Institute of India, one of the largest drug manufacturers in the world.
“We have a goal of vaccinating 50 million Filipinos this year. We believe that we can reach the goal of 250,000-300,000 inoculations per day when most of the vaccines arrive, ”Dizon said in an interview with ANC.
“[Vaccinating] 250,000 to 300,000 plus a thousand per day is the goal, but it is very difficult to measure the stable state of our inoculation from this point since the limited supply is still distributed to hospitals throughout the country, ”he added.
So far, at least 1.12 million doses of the COVID-19 Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines have been delivered to the Philippines, donated by the Chinese government and the global effort COVAX facility, respectively.
Galvez previously said that another million doses of Sinovac are expected to arrive on March 21, worth P700 million and paid for by the Philippine government.
The country’s vaccination program began on March 1, being the last country in Southeast Asia to do so. First in line are healthcare workers and front-line physicians, followed by older adults, people with comorbidities before the general population.
Before Gálvez left for India, he said that at least 44,000 Filipinos had been inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine.
Galvez initially said that the Philippines can vaccinate 70 million people during the year at best.
The Philippines has 41,822 active COVID-19 cases so far. – RSJ, GMA News
