MANILA, Philippines — Government figures on Thursday showed the country has vaccinated more than 25% of its target population for COVID-19 this year.
That percentage at 25.12% to be exact, translates to 19.37 million Filipinos complete with their doses, according to Malacañang.
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It comes as health authorities race against time to inoculate more people with the Philippines facing a fresh wave of coronavirus infections.
Officials are eyeing to vaccinate up to 70% this 2021 in a bid to meet "population protection," a term they have since used to replace "herd immunity."
Some 30.18% or 23.28 million have received an initial shot, with now 42.65 million doses administered in total.
These figures took seven months to achieve for the country, with inoculation efforts beginning in March. In the last seven days, the average number of vaccinations was at 375,570, the Palace added.
In the National Capital Region, 69.16% of the eligible population or 6.76 million are now also fully vaccinated, while 85.14% or 8.32 million have received their first dose.
Target populations
The government, however, has yet to open vaccinations for the general public.
This means the efforts are still on those in its priority list, made up of the most vulnerable to contracting the disease.
Per the government's vaccine tracker, some 2.21 million health workers or those in the A1 group have completed their doses.
Also fully vaccinated are 4.31 million senior citizens, 6.17 million persons with comorbidities, as well as 5.01 million of essential workers and 1.66 million from the indigent population.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the country is expecting 20 million more doses to arrive until the first week of October.
In that month, he said they are proposing to begin inoculations on minors aged 12 to 17, with priority on those with comorbidities and children of health workers.