Vax allocation depends on number of jab sites, population

MANILA – There is a systematic deployment of Covid-19 vaccines nationwide, National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 medical adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa assured Monday.

The national vaccine operations cluster has an allocation system based on the number of vaccination centers per local government unit (LGU) and population.

“Naka-distribute na iyan bago pa dumating itong mga bakuna (It’s been distributed prior to the arrival of the vaccines),” he said in a media interview.

Herbosa also cited the importance of expediting the vaccination drive before granular lockdowns.

“Kasi ‘pag nag-granular lockdown ka, hindi mo na mababakunahan yung mga nanduduon sa loob so it’s very important na ma-cover natin as many vaccinees as possible (You cannot vaccinate individuals residing in areas under granular lockdown so it’s very important that we can cover as many vaccinees as possible),” he said.

He reiterated the significant impacts of vaccination on the reduction of fatality and hospitalization rates due to Covid-19.

“Kita niyo naman ‘yung effect, marami mild lang na vaccinated. Very few ang namamatay. In fact, our case fatality rate is 1.63 (percent), pinakamababa since nag-umpisa itong pandemic so I think epekto ito ng mga vaccine (As you can see, the effect on the vaccinated individuals are only mild with very few deaths. In fact, our cases fatality rate is 1.63, recorded as the lowest since the start of the pandemic so I think this is the effect of the vaccines),” Herbosa said.

Herbosa explained the correlation between vaccination and enforcement of granular lockdowns.

“The vaccine is really for the illness while the granular lockdown is to prevent further transmission so it’s like breaking the transmission through the granular lockdowns so that fewer people will get infected, but the vaccines are to protect individuals and avoid deaths,” he said.

Vaccine czar and NTF chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. previously said there is no favoritism in the distribution of vaccines.