By Lade Jean Kabagani | Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Philippines has administered 118,944,887 doses of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines nationwide, with 55,195,486 Filipinos now fully vaccinated against the dreaded infection.
The latest data from the National COVID-19 vaccination dashboard released Monday (Jan. 17) also indicated 4,915,091 of the fully vaccinated have received booster or additional doses.
The country’s average vaccination rate significantly increased to 797,265 doses in the last seven days, compared to around 300,000 doses during the previous weeks.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the chief implementer of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, previously said the administration of primary doses remains a priority.
The unvaccinated sector is more prone to hospitalization, severe cases, and death, once infected with COVID-19, according to health authorities.
According to Galvez, there are still around 3 million senior citizens who are unvaccinated.
“Kasi ang benefits ng first dose ay more weighted sa boosters, kasi ‘yung mga naka-dalawang dose na, at least mayroon na silang proteksiyon. Ang talagang mag-o-overwhelm ng ating health care facilities ay ‘yung unvaccinated (The benefits of the administration of the first dose have more weight than boosters, and those with complete doses at least have protection already. Those who are unvaccinated would really overwhelm our health care facilities),” Galvez said.
The vaccine czar emphasized the Philippines has enough supply of COVID-19 jabs that can be used as primary doses and booster shots until the second quarter of this year.
At least 100 million doses are currently stored in various storage areas, “enough to cover 28 to 30 million unvaccinated individuals and 25 million individuals needing booster doses, Galvez added. (PNA) -ag
