PH ranks 4th with highest single-day jabs worldwide

MANILA – The Philippines is ranked fourth among countries worldwide that have the highest recorded number of administered Covid-19 vaccines in a single day, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Thursday.

“The latest report is that ang Pilipinas ay nasa number 4 globally, ang rank natin (the Philippines is ranking number 4 globally) for having jabbed 2.7 million in a day,” Duque said, noting that the country has so far hit as thrice than its usual vaccination rate during the rollout of the Bayanihan, Bakunahan Covid-19 vaccination drive.

The Philippines is next to China’s 22 million, India’s 10 million and the United States’ 3.48 million doses, and followed by Brazil with 2.6 million doses.

“But if you are going to look at this in terms of the population--Yung laki ng populasyon–Aba! number 1 tayo, kasi 110 million lang tayo eh ang China, India 1 billion yang mga iyan eh ang population nila more than 1 billion (we are number 1 because we are only 110 million in population while India and China have more than 1 billion population),” Duque said.

The Philippines has administered 89,070,292 doses of Covid-19 vaccine nationwide, with 51,811,422 doses were used as first shot and 36,869,419 Filipinos are fully protected against the disease and 389,41 vulnerable individuals have received their booster shots and additional doses.

The average vaccination rate in the last seven days has been increased to 1,505,991 doses, with the administration of 2,713,731 doses on Monday, 2,466,728 on Tuesday, and 2,447,973 on Wednesday.

So far, the government has partially recorded some 7,628,432 doses were administered during the three-day period of massive vaccination drive, with more counts are yet to be included.

Duque hoped that the country will be able to sustain the gains from the ‘Bayanihan, Bakunahan’ vaccination drive such as increasing the average daily vaccination rate.

“I hope we are able to sustain the momentum,” he said.

Duque reiterated the government’s target to fully inoculate at least 54 million Filipinos by the end of December this year to achieve population protection.

Like any other government officials, Duque cited anew the crucial role of various local government units in scaling up the country’s vaccination program against Covid-19.