MANILA, Philippines — The AstraZeneca COVID-19 jabs nearing expiration have been fully distributed to vaccination sites across the archipelago, the Department of Health said Monday.
In a briefing Monday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the AstraZeneca vaccine doses donated by COVAX facility have been “100% distributed.” Over 2.5 million jabs were set to expire by the end-June and July.
Vergeire said that only around 100,000 of the AstraZeneca doses have yet to be administered.
“We have reached our target already,” she said.
The department earlier said the bulk of the COVID-19 vaccines nearing expiration will be administered as first dose.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said more than 11 million COVID-19 vaccines doses are expected to arrive in the country in June, while around 11 million doses will be shipped next month.
Since the government began its vaccination drive on March 1, only 1.55% of the country’s roughly 110 million population have completed vaccination against COVID-19, while 4.26% have received the first of two doses of the vaccine.
Currently, only health workers, senior citizens, people with comorbidities, and economic frontliners are eligible for vaccination.
The country has so far recorded 1.3 million COVID-19 cases, of which 4.6% were active.