PH to start Covid-19 general public vaccination in October

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the vaccination of the general population, including minors, against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in October, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

Duterte gave his nod to the recommendation of National Task Force Against Covid-19 and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. to start inoculating the general population in October to ramp up the government’s fight against Covid-19, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.

“Ang good news po, inaprubahan na po ni Presidente ang pagbabakuna sa general population simula po sa buwan ng Oktubre (The good news is the President has approved the vaccination of the general population beginning October),” Roque said in a virtual presser.

The government has so far prioritized the inoculation of medical front-liners, senior citizens, individuals with comorbidities, economic front-liners, and indigents.

Following Duterte’s latest directive, Roque advised parents of minors to participate in the master listing of their children for Covid-19 vaccination.

“Magsisimula na rin po ang pagbabakuna ng ating mga kabataan (We will also commence the vaccination of minors),” Roque said. “Inaasahan po nating magsisimula rin tayo sa Oktubre. Aprubado na rin po iyan ng ating Presidente (We expect to start their vaccination in October. That has also been approved by the President).” 

In his Talk to the People delivered Monday night, Duterte expressed his intent to expand his administration’s vaccination drive to the general population, including children.

Galvez earlier proposed the vaccination of individuals belonging to the 12 to 17 age group, with minors with comorbidities and children of medical front-liners as among the priorities.

Galvez said the government can vaccinate around 12 million minors, given that the country will receive 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine by the first week of October.

As of Monday, a total of 44,361,285 Covid-19 vaccines have already been administered nationwide.

Around 23,777,705 individuals have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 20,583,580 others have already been fully vaccinated.