Daily average vaccination reaches 550K in August

MANILA – National Task Force Against Covid-19 (NTF) deputy chief implementer Vivencio Dizon said the government has beefed up its vaccination rollout against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) this month.

During the Laging Handa public briefing Friday, Dizon said the daily average vaccine administration in the country reached 550,000 in the first 12 days of August.

It increased from 320,000 jabs administered in a day in the previous month.

For the National Capital Region (NCR) alone, daily vaccination reached 231,000 on August 12 from an average of 100,000 doses in a day in July.

“We are close to reaching our target, but there are still many challenges. But we believe we can reach it in the next few days,” Dizon said in Filipino.

Earlier, the NTF official said the government aims to inoculate 750,000 up to 1 million jabs in a day amid the threats of faster-spreading Covid-19 Delta variant.

He added the NTF also targets to fully vaccinate 50 percent of the NCR population by the end of the month.

With the arrival of new supplies of vaccines from Sinovac and those that were donated by the United Arab Emirates, Dizon said the deployment of these jabs will start Friday.

Areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and those areas with a spike in Covid-19 cases will be prioritized for the vaccines, Dizon added.

These areas include Metro Manila, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Laguna, Bataan, and some areas in Cavite, Ilocos Norte, and some parts of Visayas and Mindanao, including Cebu and Davao.

Meanwhile, Dizon has welcomed the operation of the Bagong Nayong Pilipino Mega Vaccination Center.

“The opening of Bagong Nayong Pilipino mega vaccination facility is perfect timing. This symbolizes the cooperation among the private sector, local government units, and the national government,” Dizon said.

He said vaccines that will be given in the mega vaccination center will come from Parañaque City, along with vaccines from cities in NCR, Cavite, and other municipalities and cities south of Metro Manila.