MANILA, Philippines — Vaccine czar and National Task Force Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. identified Monday the areas that will be prioritized in the distribution and deployment of coronavirus vaccines once they become available.
Galvez said the regions and cities that have become COVID-19 epicenters will be prioritized in the government’s immunization program. These include Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Cebu City, Davao City and Cagayan de Oro City.
“These will serve as major hubs for the cold storage [of vaccines],” Galvez said in a briefing.
Last month, President Rodrigo Duterte said he wanted the country’s entire population to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
But with high demand and supply limitations, the government will have to prioritize health care workers, government frontline workers, uniformed personnel, poor households and vulnerable groups like senior citizens, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
Galvez said the government is aiming to buy at least 50 million vaccine doses to inoculate an initial target of 25 million people.
‘Realistic’ timeline
The country’s vaccine czar said that the bulk of COVID-19 vaccines may arrive in the country by end of 2021 or in early 2022 due to lack of supply.
“Realistically speaking, the main bulk of vaccines may reach the country by the end of next year or 2022 because wealthy countries have already acquired the majority of production,” Galvez said in Filipino.
But if everything goes well, the “best case scenario” would be to have available vaccines by May to June next year through the bilateral agreements with other nations and the country’s involvement in the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility.
The COVAX mechanism aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country.
The Philippines has total confirmed cases of 398,449, with 361,784 recoveries and 7,647 deaths. — Gaea Katreena Cabico