Philippines targets 7M COVID-19 jabs in 2nd mass vaccination drive

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is targeting to administer seven million COVID-19 jabs during the second round of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign set next week, the Department of Health said Tuesday.

“We are targeting around seven million for the second dose, so we can achieve the goal to fully vaccinate 54 million individuals by the end of the year,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a public briefing.

Eight million people were inoculated during the first leg of the government’s ambitious inoculation push, falling short of a target of nine million shots.

The vaccination output reached 9.9 million jabs after local authorities extended the campaign for two more days.

Latest data showed only 38.69 million Filipinos have completed the recommended doses, while 53.49 million have received partial protection against COVID-19.

The public is urged to get immunized to boost their defenses as the heavily mutated Omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads globally.

“I must urge you to get vaccinated because Omicron, when it arrives in the Philippines, will find every unvaccinated Filipino,” Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, a fellow of OCTA Research, said Monday.