The national government proudly announced that it has deployed 92.58 percent of the total supply of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines across the Philippines in a bid to continue the free inoculation program, the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 reported Wednesday, April 14.
In a statement, the NTF said a total of 2,801,020 doses of the country’s total supply of 3,025,600 vaccine doses were already distributed as of April 13.
“In one week, we were able to successfully distribute almost 900,000 doses to all our regions. This is a testament to our logistics handling and cold chain [capability], and shows we are ready to distribute vaccines quickly once [the] bulk of vaccine doses from our negotiations and from Covax arrive,” it said.
In the meantime, a total of 1,093,651 people have already been vaccinated with their first dose, providing them with partial coverage against the deadly virus.
The NTF further stated that 162,065 people received their second dose, giving them the full protection and benefits that vaccines offer.
Vaccinated individuals are part of Priority A1 to A3 comprised of front-line health care workers, seniors and those with comorbidities.
They were either given the CoronaVac vaccine from Chinese manufacturer Sinovac Biotech or AstraZeneca jab from British-Swedish firm.
The NTF stated that the government has teamed up with the private sector to accelerate the roll-out of vaccines and begin the A4 priority inoculation or economic frontliners.
“This partnership will allow the government to protect more Filipinos much quicker, and will allow for a larger-scale rollout of vaccines upon arrival of the procured and donated vaccines come mid-year,” it noted.
The government is aiming to speed up the vaccination program as NTF Chief Implementer and Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr., in a television interview on Tuesday, warned of another possible surge of cases in June or July.
