By Lade Jean Kabagani / Philippine News Agency
The country’s vaccination program continues to accelerate with over 29.2 million Filipinos fully protected against COVID-19 as of Saturday (Nov. 6).
The latest data from the National COVID-19 vaccination dashboard showed a total of 63,412,955 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered nationwide.
Of the total jabs, 34,202,563 were given as first doses and 29,210,392 were second doses.
In the past seven days, the country’s average daily vaccination rate stood at 647,580 doses, much higher compared to 518,294 doses recorded on Oct. 31.
The National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 earlier reported that the government has reached its target of administering at least one million doses in a day, with 1,119,389 jabs given on Nov. 4 alone.
Previously, NTF chief and vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. noted that the expansion of the vaccination program to children will further increase the country’s inoculation rate.
In a news release on Saturday, Galvez said more than 58,000 minors from 12 to 17 years old nationwide have received their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The government sees about 12.7 million minors will be covered under the pediatric vaccination rollout, and targets to further ramp up the vaccination by administering at least five million doses per week “so that the population protection will soon [be] achieved before the year ends.”
The Philippines has so far received a total of 109,779,530 COVID-19 doses, both procured and donated, since February. (PNA) – jlo