PASAY CITY – The Philippines hit a daily record-high of 2.55 million COVID-19 jabs on Monday (Nov. 29) during the launching of the government’s three-day National Vaccination Days.
This figure is more than double the usual daily national vaccination throughput of the Philippines in previous days, which on several occasions, have gone beyond the 1 million mark.
National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. said this development proves that local government units can accelerate and expand the coverage of their target populations.
“The major uptick in our country’s vaccination rate is a testament of our bayanihan spirit, which is a collaborative effort between the national line agencies, LGUs, private sector organizations and of course, our citizens,” Galvez said.
“We continue to prove that if all work together, we will be able to fully vaccinate our population as efficiently and quickly as possible,” he added.
Based on the data from the National Vaccination Operations Center, the country recorded a total of 2,554,023 doses administered on Monday.
Among all the regions, CALABARZON registered the highest number of COVID-19 jabs administered with 366,711 doses.
This was followed by Central Luzon with 297,316 doses, Western Visayas with 192,216 doses, Central Visayas with 186,834 doses, and the Bicol Region with 165,259 doses.
Metro Manila also performed very well, by administering 139,812 doses on Monday.
PH’s global performance
This developed as the Philippines achieved an impressive feat globally after administering 2.55 million COVID-19 jabs in a day.
This put the Philippines in the Top 5 spot worldwide in terms of jabs administered in a single day, with China administering 22 million doses, India with 10 million doses, the United States with 3.48 million doses, and Brazil with 2.6 million doses.
“We thank our health workers, our public and private sector vaccination partners, and all our country who participated in this whole-of-nation effort to achieve population protection,” Galvez said.
“This impressive feat will help us bring down our COVID-19 cases and prevent severe cases, hospitalizations and deaths,” he added.
Walk-ins must be allowed
Galvez assured the public that the national government is determined to further increase the vaccination rates of LGUs nationwide on Tuesday and Wednesday to achieve its target of administering 9 million jabs within the three-day period.
The vaccine czar called on LGUs to vaccinate everyone who lines up in vaccination sites during the National Vaccination Days, including the walk-ins.
There have been some reports on Monday that some residents who lined up without pre-registering were turned away in some vaccination sites.
“This should not be the case. The directive of the President is to vaccinate everyone who wants to be vaccinated. No one should be left behind,” Galvez stressed.
“Lahat ng pumila sa vaccination sites, kahit walang pre-registration ay dapat bakunahan ng LGU. Walang dapat umuwi nang hindi natuturukan ng bakuna,” he added.
Galvez also renewed his call to those who have not been inoculated to get the COVID-19 jab and be protected against the virus.
“Getting vaccinated is the best gift that you can give to yourself and to your loved ones this Christmas, especially with the threat of the Omicron variant,” he said.
“Let us all welcome the holiday season with a healthier life, as we slowly return to our normal lives,” he added.
As of Nov. 29, a total of 83,851,042 doses have been administered nationwide. Of this number, 47,529,968 were given as first doses, while 36,078,815 Filipinos are now fully vaccinated. (PR) – bny
