Authorities in the Philippines have administered nearly 500,000 COVID-19 shots per day that has taken the number of Filipinos receiving vaccination to over 5.5 million.
National Task Force (NTF) against COVID 19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito G. Galvez Jr said in a statement that they were “now past the crawl-and-walk stages, as we gradually run towards our goal of inoculating half a million Filipinos per day this quarter.”
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He added that the government-administered 472,356 doses across the country last Thursday, which was only 30,000 short of its target of half a million doses per day for the third quarter. Nearly 16.4 million shots have been administered since start of vaccination program last March.
NTF Deputy Chief Implementer and testing czar Secretary Vivencio Dizon said the figures reflected the “growing vaccine confidence in the country.”
“The upward trajectory of our daily vaccination output in all priority sectors says so many things in the ongoing program,” he said, adding, “our vaccine supply inventory is expanding and the vaccine confidence of the Filipino people is increasing.”
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Dizon said the government is seeking to administer 750,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines each day in the last quarter of 2021.
The Philippines has 30.98 million doses of vaccines as of Friday and six million more are expected to arrive in the country next week, said Galvez. He urged the public to strictly follow health protocols in the wake of the Delta COVID-19 variant threat.
He said that the “best way to stop and limit the spread of the Delta variant, along with getting the vaccine, is diligently complying with minimum public health standards.”
“If possible, put on double masks. We need to be more conscious because the virus continues to mutate,” added Dizon. (AW)
