MANILA, Philippines — The National Vaccination Operations Center on Thursday reported that 6.4 million doses were administered in the second run of the Bayanihan Bakunahan program, but the tally may still rise as more information is sent by local government units affected by Typhoon Odette.
In a Laging Handa briefing, Dr. Kezia Rosario of the NVOC said 992,629 doses were administered on December 22, the last day of the government program to ramp up vaccination.
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With 5,411,993 doses administered from December 15-21, this brings the total number of vaccines given to Filipinos to 6,404,622 doses in the second three-day vaccination drive.
Rosario explained that due to the typhoon, some local governments experienced connectivity issues. “We still expect some will submit tomorrow or coming days. We expect [the number of doses administered] will still rise,” she added in Filipino.
The second round of the three-day national vaccination campaign was held in most of Luzon on December 15-17, while the government opted to postpone its conduct in regions on the path of Typhoon Odette to December 20-22.
The initial target is to administer seven million doses, which puts the current tally of the NVOC short.
Booster doses
Since the change in interval between the last and additional dose was only announced late Tuesday night, Rosario said local government units may still be adjusting to the new guidelines. “We expect a slower rollout [of booster doses] and then we’ll ramp up as we go along the next few days,” she added.
With the shorter wait time for their additional jab, around 19 million persons who completed their doses from March to September are now eligible to receive another dose.
But so far, only 1.2 million booster doses have been administered, Rosario said.
She however assured that the government has enough supply of vaccines to cover those who are yet to receive a single dose, and those who will be inoculated with the additional jab.
Data from the Department of Health showed that as of December 22 showed that 104,379,306 doses have been administered since vaccine rollout started in March.
So far, 46.38 million Filipinos have completed their doses, while 56.727 million others have been partially vaccinated. — Kristine Joy Patag