70.8M Filipinos fully vaccinated, 15M with 1st booster

Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said that the World Health Organization-led COVAX Facility will replace all of the country’s expired vaccines. (Pexels photo)

MANILA – The Philippines has already administered 154,237,449 doses of the coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine nationwide, with 70,853,659 Filipinos receiving complete coronavirus primary series and 15,017,716 getting their first booster doses, National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) said Saturday.

The latest report from the NVOC also showed that 801 individuals aged 12 to 17 with underlying co-morbidities have been given their first booster doses.

“As provided for in [Department of Health] DM No. 2022-0263, the roll-out of the first booster/third dose for all adolescents ages 12 to 17 may proceed as soon as the Local Vaccination Operations Centers (LVOCs), implementing units, and vaccination sites/teams are ready,” the NVOC said in a statement.

The NVOC also reported that all regions in the country have already fully vaccinated more than 40 percent of their target population for senior citizens (A2 priority group), with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) having the lowest with 46 percent.

On the other hand, the Cagayan Valley Region and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) have the highest coverage of fully vaccinated elderly at 92.8 percent and 90.7 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the DOH said it is closely coordinating with the proper offices to collate the final report on the number of doses expiring soon.

Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said that the World Health Organization-led COVAX Facility will replace all of the country’s expired vaccines.

The COVAX Facility also pledged to deliver at least 17 million more doses of Covid-19 jabs to the Philippines.