3.7M doses administered since 2nd vax leg on Dec. 15

MANILA – A total of 3.7 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines has been administered since the second leg of Bayanihan Bakunahan started on December 15, a health official said Tuesday.

“Nakabawi tayo kahapon, naka-1,039,000 tayong doses kahapon, for a total simula noong Dec 15 ng 3.7 million sa buong bansa (We were able to administer more jabs yesterday (Monday), about 1,039,000 doses, for a total of 3.7 million doses from Dec. 15 nationwide,” Health Undersecretary and National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) Chairperson Myrna Cabotaje reported during a televised public briefing.

Cabotaje noted most of the jabs given were second doses of the primary series — 2.1 million second doses, 1.1 million first doses, and 289,000 booster shots.

“In terms of the sector, marami pa rin ang ating pediatric population, tapos sumunod iyong rest of the adults, tapos iyong mga ibang priority groups ay nababakunahan din (many came from the pediatric population, then the rest of adults, then the other priority groups were also inoculated),” she said.

The NVOC has not received additional reports on vaccine wastage or problems apart from the previously reported 600 doses of Pfizer jab in Bingawan, Iloilo province which exceeded the 30 days storage.

However, the center is still waiting for reports from Negros Occidental, the whole Central Visayas, parts of Southern Leyte, Caraga, Surigao del Norte, and Dinagat Island.

To boost the total number of fully vaccinated individuals before the year ends, Cabotaje said the NVOC is looking at using all the 9 million doses to reach the 54 million target.

“Pero alam natin na kailangan na doble, tripleng effort especially in many areas, babawian natin iyong hindi nagbabakuna doon sa areas na hindi nasalanta ng bagyo kagaya ng (We know double, triple effort is needed especially in many areas, we’ll compensate for the areas where there is no vaccination now like) Region 3 and Region 4-A,” she said.