MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government is looking to achieve over 70,000 COVID-19 vaccinations per day starting next month with the arrival of more vaccine supplies in the country, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said.
Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said the national government is currently vaccinating an average of 60,000 per day, which is higher than the previous average of 30,000.
She expressed confidence that reaching the 70,000 vaccinations per day is doable based on their past experience when they used AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as first doses.
“We hope we can reach 70,000 or higher. Nagkaroon po tayo ng isang—one time noong nag-issue tayo na all first doses iyong AstraZeneca, naka-100,000,” she said during a Laging Handa public briefing on Wednesday.
“So we would like to reach at least more than 70,000 per day for the next month. So next quarter po, we will have more, we will have to have 100 to 200 thousand more per day,” she added.
The health official also noted that the vaccination sites in the country should also be expanded to help achieve the target.
“Yes, because marami na tayong vaccines so kailangan para ma-meet iyong ating target jabs per day, we need to expand the existing number of vaccination sites,” Cabotaje said.
Vaccine statistics released by the DOH on Wednesday afternoon showed that as of May 11, there are 3,688 vaccination sites conducting immunization across 17 regions in the country.
A total of 2,539,693 vaccine doses have already been administered since the vaccination program was launched in March.
Around 2,025,038 people received their first dose while 514,755 individuals completed the required two doses.
A DOH data also showed that 355,242 healthcare workers have been fully vaccinated, while 1,195,381 already received their first dose.
Around 25,070 senior citizens have already received their second dose, while 466,899 got their first dose.
Also, 134,343 individuals with comorbidities have been fully vaccinated, while 353,842 got their first dose.
The inoculation of frontline personnel in essential sectors has also begun as 8,916 people already got their first dose.
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