Philippines holds 4th national COVID-19 vaccination drive
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines began Thursday the fourth round of the mass imunizations, which aims to ramp up the COVID-19 vaccination of senior citizens and adolescents.
The government is targeting to inoculate 1.8 million people against COVID-19 during the fourth National Vaccination Days from March 10 to 12.
The activity has been “so far, so good,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told state broadcaster People’s Television.
Duque is hoping the vaccination push will bring the government closer to its target of fully vaccinating 90 million Filipinos against COVID-19. Since March 2021, over 63.7 million Filipinos have completed inoculation.
The three-day activity will also focus on administering booster doses and reaching areas with low vaccination rates such as Mimaropa, Soccsksargen and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
In a statement, Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año urged local government units to implement best practices and lessons from the previous vaccination events.
He also ordered the Philippine National Police to deploy more officers within and around vaccination sites to ensure a "systematic and orderly" vaccination.
The country is experiencing a low vaccine take-up as COVID-19 infections continue to decline, prompting authorities to bring jabs to houses, private clinics and transport terminals to widen the rollout.
The Philippines has reported 3.6 million COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started, with 57,182 deaths.
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