Over 240K people already fully vaccinated vs COVID-19 — DOH
MANILA, Philippines — Nearly two months since the start of the inoculation drive, over 240,000 individuals have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in the Philippines, the Department of Health reported Wednesday.
Latest data showed that since the start of the vaccination program in March, 1,809,801 vaccine doses have been administered in 3,415 inoculation sites nationwide.
Of the total, only 246,801 people have been fully vaccinated, while 1,562,815 people have received their first dose.
The average number of people vaccinated per day stood at 35,320.
The government touts that the Philippines is the third country in Southeast Asia in number of doses administered but it fails to say that only around 1% of the population have been vaccinated.
So far, the country has received more than 3.5 million doses of COVID-19 jabs, with the vast majority coming from China’s Sinovac Biotech. Eighty-six percent of the available doses have been distributed.
Malacañang said the delivery of the first 15,000 doses of the Russian-made COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V will be delayed due to logistical challenges, in a setback for the country’s already slow vaccine rollout. The shipment was supposed to arrive Wednesday evening.
The bulk of the supply is not expected until late this year.
Currently, healthcare workers, senior citizens and people with comorbidities are being vaccinated due to the limited supply of jabs.
The government’s target is to inoculate up to 70 million people this year.
The country’s COVID-19 caseload reached 1.01 million Tuesday, of which 71,675 were active. The severe respiratory disease has claimed the lives of nearly 17,000 people in the Philippines. — with report from Xave Gregorio
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