By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz / Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The bulk of the latest delivery of 728,910 Pfizer vaccine doses will be allotted for distribution to the National Capital Region (NCR), major cities in Luzon, and the southern cities of Cebu and Davao, National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. said Thursday (Sept. 23) night.
Galvez, who personally welcomed the arrival of the U.S.-made vaccine at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, said 51,480 would be unloaded in Cebu City and 92,430 will be flown to Davao City Friday (Sept. 24).
“So, we are targeting Manila, Metro Cebu, and Davao. They will have a threshold of at least 80% [of the eligible population vaccinated] before the end of October. Kaya binibigyan natin sila ng supplies,” Galvez said.
Aside from the three urban areas in Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao, he said the government’s vaccination program also focuses on Regions 4-A (Calabarzon) and 3 (Central Luzon) due to their proximity to the NCR.
“We will now consider NCR and Region 4-A and Region 3 as one geographic location. Kasi we can see na ‘yung economic activity, hindi natin pwede paghiwalayin,” Galvez said.
By the end of November, the vaccination rate in the major cities of Regions 4-A and 3 will be at par with NCR, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao, he said.
So far, around 11 million Pfizer doses have been delivered to the country and more are expected to arrive in October either as procurement or donations from the COVAX Facility and the U.S., Galvez said.
The Philippines will receive more shots from the U.S. government as part of the supply of 500 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that U.S. President Joe Biden promised to low- and medium-income countries, Galvez said.
“Nakikita natin na talagang maganda na, steady na ‘yung supply na binibigay sa atin ng COVAX, and also we would like to thank the U.S. government for providing us with the access to western vaccines,” he added.
On Sept. 22, a shipment of more than one million doses of Pfizer, procured by the national government, arrived in the country. To date, the country has received a total of 66.9 million doses of different COVID-19 vaccines. (PNA) – jlo
