MANILA – To reach the target of vaccinating 50 million Filipinos within the year, the government plans to inoculate around 250,000 to 300,000 people per day once the bulk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines arrived in the country.
National Task Force against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon said the target is within reach as long as there will be no issues with the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
“Ang target natin ay roughly 250,000 to 300,000 persons a day pero ito ay depende sa supply ng bakuna na makukuha natin,” Dizon said at Laging Handa public briefing on Wednesday.
“Pagdating natin sa punto na nagvavaccinate na tayo ng general population, aabot po tayo sa target natin na 50 million people by the end of the year,” added Dizon, who also serves as testing czar.
The 50-million target is lower than the 70 million Filipinos initially targeted by the government to be vaccinated with COVID-19 shots after 2021.
A total of 1,125,600 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Sinovac BioTech and AstraZeneca, donated by the Chinese government and the COVAX facility, respectively, have arrived in the country.
The country is set to get 1 million doses of government-paid Sinovac vaccines and 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines later this month and an additional 4.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines by April or May through COVAX.
The country has also signed a supply agreement with United States-based Moderna Incorporated for the 13 million doses of COVID-19 shots, as well as with Novavax for 30 million doses of its vaccines.
So far, the government has vaccinated 44,000 persons which are mostly healthcare workers./PN
