Philippines misses 3-day target but cites gains in vaccination drive
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines failed to meet its ambitious target of administering nine million COVID-19 vaccine doses during the three-day immunization drive that aimed to accelerate the rollout of jabs across the country.
A total of 7,628,432 individuals were vaccinated against COVID-19 during the campaign, Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said Thursday.
Broken down, 2.71 million doses were given on November 29 and 2.46 million million jabs were administered on November 30. Around 2.44 million shots were given on December 1.
Cabotaje, who heads the National Vaccination Operations Center, said the total output is expected to increase as more vaccinators submit data.
Despite missing the target, the government is still satisfied with the outcome, Cabotaje said.
“We’re very happy with the initial report because this is more than two times the daily vaccination rate,” she said.
Initially, the government aimed to inoculate 15 million people in a span of three days. But authorities lowered the goal due to a shortage of syringes and other logistical challenges.
According to Cabotaje, Calabarzon, Central Luzon and Central Visayas were the regions with the biggest outputs.
Extension
The National Task Force Against COVID-19 allowed local government units to extend their operations for the national vaccination drive until Friday to sustain the momentum in rolling out shots.
There will be another three-day immunization campaign scheduled from December 15 to 17 to help achieve the government’s target of fully vaccinating 54 million Filipinos by yearend.
As of Thursday, more than 36.86 million Filipinos have completed vaccination, while over 51.81 million people have received partial protection against COVID-19.
The government has so far administered 389,451 booster shots.
Officials urged Filipinos to get vaccinated to boost their defenses as the world prepares for the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.
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