The authorities in the Philippines have said that 9.9 million people have received COVID-19 jabs despite a shortage of vaccinations.
The government has surpassed its scaled-down target of inoculating 9 million Filipinos after extending its National Vaccination Days.
Local officials who implemented the program reported a host of problems, particularly in small towns and provinces especially the lack of vaccinations.
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The government was able to administer 9.9 million doses or 900,000 more than the target. The number was also 1.9 million more than the 8 million who were vaccinated from Nov 29 to Dec 1.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the national vaccination day was a huge success and from a target of 9 million individuals the tally was 9.9 million.
Presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said improvements would be made for the second round from Dec. 15 to Dec. 17.
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However, from the 81 provinces in the country, only 45 failed to hit at least 50 per cent of their target number of doses to be administered from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 while only 31 provinces managed to hit their goal of vaccinating 50 per cent of their populations. Six provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Batanes, Siquijor and Camiguin were able to surpass their vaccination targets.
In some areas there were insufficient numbers of vaccinators and a shortage of doctors and nurses.
Also there was a shortage of volunteers to man the thousands of vaccination sites to be set up.
