The government will prioritize the rollout of vaccines in the National Capital Region (NCR) to try to achieve herd immunity in the region by November this year.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at the Department of Health (DOH) Media Forum on April 26 that among their strategies is the establishment of mega vaccination sites.
“Also the help of the private sector for free, at magtutulong-tulong po tayo kung paano po tayo makakarating doon sa tina-target natin, na according to the targets would be by November of this year,” Vergeire said.
Watch this report from Mark Fetalco for more details:
The DOH earlier said that 70% of the country’s population must be inoculated to achieve herd immunity. However, this will depend on the supply of vaccines that the country receives.
On April 22, the country received another batch of 500,000 doses of CoronaVac which were among the vaccines procured by the government from Sinovac Biotech of China.
“May mga specifications ng vaccine at saka ‘yung kanilang detailed analysis sa production. So ito ay dapat makita rin ng FDA [Food and Drug Administration] at makita ng vaccine cluster, itong batch na ito, ok for distribution and injection,” DOH Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said.
Another batch of 500,000 doses of CoronaVac will be delivered on April 29.
The first shipment of 15,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccine from Gamaleya Institute are expected to be delivered on April 28 and will be followed by 485,000 doses.
“Limang LGU ang mabibigyan ng unang batch ng 15,000. Tig 3,000 sila. Iyon ay ang Makati, Manila, Muntinlupa, Taguig, at Paranaque,” National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon said.
Aside from this, around 195,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the global COVAX facility are expected to be shipped in May. – Report from Mark Fetalco/AG-jlo
