By Lade Jean Kabagani / Philippine News Agency
The Philippines has administered 65,764,376 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, with around 30,108,097 Filipinos now fully vaccinated as of Wednesday (Nov. 10).
Data from the National COVID-19 Vaccination dashboard showed that the government was able to inject 817,010 doses on Tuesday alone, with 517,998 jabs used as first dose and 299,012 as second dose.
The government remains optimistic about its targets to increase the average daily vaccination rate up to 1.5 million doses to achieve population protection before the year ends.
During President Rodrigo Duterte’s prerecorded Talk to the People aired Wednesday morning, Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr., the chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, said the country’s vaccination output has “significantly improved” due to the steady deliveries of vaccines.
But the government, he added, is “still short” of hitting its 1.5 million daily jabs target.
The average number of daily vaccines administered in the last seven days stood at 765,422 doses.
The highest weekly output was recorded from Nov. 2 to 8, according to Galvez, with 5,473,704 jabs administered.
Galvez said there is a need to administer up to 1.5 million doses per day, beginning this month, to fully vaccinate up to 70% of the country’s 110 million estimated total population within this year.
To further accelerate the country’s vaccination program, Galvez said the government has been conducting a series of meetings with local government units (LGUs) and the key agencies of the COVID-19 pandemic response.
“[We are] challenging all our LGUs to be creative in order to administer the vaccines that have been given to them [at the] soonest possible time,” he added.
The Philippines has so far received 117,245,400 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, both government-procured and donations. (PNA) – jlo
