MANILA, Philippines — More than 1.3 million people has been vaccinated against the coronavirus two months since the rollout of the vaccines as reported by the Department of Health (DOH).
The daily average rate for vaccinations is close to 44,000.
In the DOH bulletin for vaccine statistics, it showed that as of April 21, a total of 1,562,563 doses of vaccines were already administered. 209,456 of which were 2nd doses.
The remaining 1,353,107 were first doses, which means that the same number of individuals received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The DOH said that all of the 3,025,600 COVID-19 vaccines that have arrived in the country have been distributed to local government units.
The 1.3 million administered doses comprise 76% of the 1,780,400 allocated doses, and the 209,456 administered second doses account for 12%.
Only those Sinovac and AstraZeneca, among the six Covid-19 vaccine candidates, have been delivered in the country so far.
Vaccine products of Pfizer, Gamaleya Institute, Johnson & Johnson, and Bharat Biotech are on their way to the country.
On Monday, the DOH said hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses from Sinovac, Pfizer and Gamaleya Institute are expected to arrive later this month.
To help widen the country’s vaccine options, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for brands like Janssen and Covaxin.
“Everyone is urged to get vaccinated when it’s their turn in order to get protected against the severe form of COVID-19,” DOH said.
But an official of the World Health Organization urged the Philippines to ensure that healthcare workers are “fully protected” against COVID-19 before the vaccination drive “gradually” covers other groups.
The current number of vaccinated individuals is still far from 70 million target by the end of the year in order to reach herd immunity. This as the country struggles to curb the spread of COVID-19, especially in Metro Manila and nearby areas.
Reporting by: Ghelo Javier
Source: ABS-CBN News