Most of the local government units (LGUs) are ready to start the vaccination program for minors and the general public by October and November, National Task Force against (Covid-19) chief Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said Thursday.
“Dahil kasi nakikita natin na karamihan na ng willing na mga vaccinees ay nakuha na ng mga cities (Because we see that most cities have reached most numbers of vaccinees),” Galvez, also the country’s vaccine czar said in a media interview during the arrival of another 1.2 million doses of the Moderna vaccine at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 in Parañaque City.
He said the vaccination programs of more than 30 areas nationwide have already reached the “saturation point.”
Galvez cited the increasing number of children contracting the dreaded Covid-19 infection.
“Considering also on what we see in the United States, in one is to five — most of them contracting severe cases are children,” he said.
Galvez said there is a need to protect children against the virus, particularly now that the government is starting to open limited face-to-face classes.
He added the National Vaccine Operation Center (NVOC), headed by Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Myna Cabotaje, has already presented a vaccination plan for minors and the general public.
The NTF, he said, has approved the categorization per sector in the Covid-19 vaccination program.
70% target stays
Galvez said the government's target for population protection remains at 70 percent out of the total 110 million Filipinos.
He said many challenges on global vaccine demand and logistical issues have delayed the deliveries during mid-September.
“The slippage deliveries on this month will be arriving in October and we are expecting 100 million (doses) to arrive this October,” Galvez said.
With the latest developments on vaccine arrivals, Galvez said the government will be able to fully vaccinate about 50 million Filipinos.
“We are still targeting to vaccinate around 50 to 70 million. Meaning, once our vaccination will increase to 800,000 a day to 1 million a day, then, we can hit 60 to 70 million,” he said.
The government is currently vaccinating priority populations including healthcare workers, senior citizens, persons with comorbidities, and indigents.
“But once we will have an inflection point and we will have a continuous problem on vaccine hesitancy, maybe we could vaccinate at least 58 million,” he added.
Prioritize unvaxxed
The DOH said the government needs to continuously increase Covid-19 primary series vaccination coverage across the country and ramp up vaccination among senior citizens and persons with underlying conditions.
“We have to prioritize vaccinating those who have not yet received a single dose of Covid-19 vaccines, especially in our provinces and other far-flung areas,” DOH spokesperson and Undersecretary Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire said in a news release on Thursday.
“If they remain unvaccinated, they won’t get the needed additional protection against severe Covid-19. This will lead to hospitalizations and overwhelm our health system, and consequently, lifting of restrictions will be delayed,” she added.
She said expanding coverage will be immensely critical in managing the pandemic and reopening the economy.
The Philippines has a total vaccine stockpile of 71,324,50 doses as of Thursday, with 45,147,477 doses have already been administered nationwide since the beginning of the vaccination program on March 1.
The Philippines has secured a total of 187.6 million doses for this year, 129 million doses of which are procured by the government and the rest are donations.
These comprised 42 million Sinovac, 40 million Pfizer-BioNTech, 20 million Moderna, 17 million AstraZeneca, and 10 million Sputnik V vaccines. (PNA)
