The government aims to administer 120,000 COVID-19 vaccines per day in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus by June.
To realize this goal, two mega vaccination sites will be set up aside from the vaccinations that will be conducted in malls and other gymnasiums.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. disclosed the set target in a hearing conducted by the Lower Chamber on Wednesday (April 21). However, reaching the target depends on vaccine availability. Deliveries are expected to arrive by next month.
“With the requirement… the NCR should have a steady supply of 3.3 million (doses) monthly,” Secretary Galvez said.
For the private sector, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Sec. Joey Concepcion made an appeal to the government on the matter of vaccines.
“What we want to appeal to DOH (Department of Health) and NITAG (National Immunization Technical Advisory Group) is to give the private sector the flexibility, because if you look at the industries that I’ve presented who purchased vaccines, there are so many industries who have different positions,” Concepcion said.
Meanwhile, some solons expressed their concern about the lack of public confidence in Covid-19 vaccination. In Marikina City alone, a survey revealed that only 10% of its constituents are willing to get the shot.
“The rest is 83 percent of the respondents (who) say they did not want to be vaccinated. So malaki pong problema ‘yung vaccine confidence sa aming lugar [So we have a big problem with vaccine confidence in our area],” Marikina City Representative Stella Quimbo said.
But Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje assured that “there are general strategies on a national scale and regional level being addressed by the local task forces partnership between PIA (Philippine Information Agency) and the LGUs (local government units).”
Despite the setbacks, Galvez, who is the National Task Force chief implementer, insisted that the Philippines is not left behind in the inoculation of its citizens.
“Hindi po tayo nangungulelat. Nasa upper third po tayo ng tinatawag natin sa vaccination program [We are not lagging behind. We are in what we call the upper 3rd of the vaccination program], even though our supply is very limited during this first and second quarter,” Galvez said.
Galvez presented data that show the Philippines ranks fourth among Southeast Asian nations and 15th among 47 Asian countries in terms of inoculation.
The vaccine czar is confident that the supplies of Covid-19 vaccines will pour in by the second quarter of the year.
Report by Daniel Manalastas/JBB-jlo
