MANILA, Philippines — Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Sunday said the Philippines has administered over five million doses of COVID-19 vaccine as May nears its end.
Galvez touted over radio dzMM the said figure that came nearly three months since the much-needed inoculation efforts in the country began.
That would be 5,120,023 doses given with 1,189,353 Filipinos complete with shots, against May 25's 4,495,375 doses and 1,029,061 fully vaccinated individuals.
"We'd like to congratulate our mayors in the National Capital Region and other mayors throughout the country for a job well done as we breached the five million mark," Galvez said in Filipino.
The Duterte administration has set a goal of inoculating 50 to 70 million this year, but it has faced criticism along the way to speed up the efforts.
Galvez made no mention of the average daily administered doses, but the figure was at 145,243 on May 25, the last time government reported the vaccine statistics.
On those in priority groups, he said 1.4 million or 93.33% of health workers have been vaccinated, 1,368,836 or 13.38% of senior citizens, and 1,150,196 or 22.7% of those with comorbidities.
The vaccines that have been administered in the country's inoculation drive are: Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and Pfizer.
By June, Galvez touted an estimated 10 million doses arriving in the Philippines from various manufacturers.
This would include donations from the World Health Organization-led COVAX Facility, or 2.3 million Pfizer and 2 million AstraZeneca doses.
Another million doses of Sinovac will be delivered by June 6, while the country's first supply of Moderna at 250,000 doses has a set date of June 21, per Galvez.
The inoculation chief added that the Philippines will be among the recipients of excess vaccine supply, some of which could arrive also by June.