COVID-19 vaccination and road to herd immunity, Philippines

The city government of Valenzuela City announces that it is temporarily suspending the use of Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 vaccines as they wait for more vaccine supplies.

ADVISORY: Pansamantalang inihinto ang pagbabakuna ng Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 vaccine sa Valenzuela habang naghihintay ng karagdagang supply. (????: Valenzuela LGU) pic.twitter.com/j4yO52jgMN

— PTVph (@PTVph) August 7, 2023

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to lead the rollout of the bivalent COVID-19 vaccination at the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City. — The STAR/Helen Flores

President Marcos will lead the launch of the bivalent COVID-19 vaccination at the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City on Wednesday morning. (Photo courtesy of MPC pool) | @helenmflores pic.twitter.com/wbB2An7xgg

— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) June 21, 2023

The Department of Health reminds public that they can still avail of the COVID-19 booster and bivalent booster. It reposted an infographic that determines when it is best to get the first two boosters and the bivalent booster.

Senior citizens and frontline health workers may now get their second booster shots, particularly mRNA jabs such as Moderna and Pfizer, the Department of Health announces. — Gaea Katreena Cabico

The Department of Health – 9 (DOH) reported a very low turnout for the third phase of the National Vaccination Day against COVID-19 in the Zamboanga Peninsula region.

Angeline Jaldon, DOH-9 information officer, said based on the report of the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (RESU), only 16,976 or 10% of their target 169,764 eligible individuals showed up.

Jaldon said the low turnout was attributed to complacency and lack of interest to get inoculated.

The DOH regional office is looking into what strategies local government units used to convince constitutents to get vaccinated.

The low turnout may also have kept Zamboanga Peninsula among the areas in Mindanao at high risk from COVID-19. —The STAR/Roel Pareño

The Department of Health – 9 (DOH) reported a very low turnout for the third phase of the National Vaccination Day against COVID-19 in the Zamboanga Peninsula region.

Angeline Jaldon, DOH-9 information officer, said based on the report of the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (RESU), only 16,976 or 10% of their target 169,764 eligible individuals showed up.

Jaldon said the low turnout was attributed to complacency and lack of interest to get inoculated.

The DOH regional office is looking into what strategies local government units used to convince constitutents to get vaccinated.

The low turnout may also have kept Zamboanga Peninsula among the areas in Mindanao at high risk from COVID-19. —The STAR/Roel Pareño

The Philippines will roll out its vaccination program for children aged 5 to 11 years old on February 4.

The pandemic task force says Pfizer vaccines exclusive for kids will arrive this week.
 

The percentage of the population with full vaccination has reached almost 50% at 53 million, says National Task Force adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa.

In an interview with dzBB, Herbosa suggests that five million more have yet to receive their second vaccine dose.

"Around 58 million have received at least the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 and 4.7 million have been jabbed with a booster," he says in Filipino.

View the COVID-19 and Vaccination Dashboard for the latest figures on the pandemic in the Philippines.

Starting December 1, the vaccination of employees required to work on-site will be mandatory in the public and private sector in areas with sufficient COVID-19 jabs supply.

"However, eligible employees who remain to be unvaccinated may not be terminated but they shall be required to undergo regular RT-PCR testing, or antigen tests, at their own expense," Malacañang says.

The Philippine government is targeting to administer at least 15 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines before the end of November, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. says.

The government aims to achieve 1 million to 1.5 million jabs per day starting November 20.

To achieve this, Galvez says about 4,000 to 5,000 vaccination sites would be activated, including malls, universities, schools, gyms, camps and function halls of different government agencies.

The Philippine government will start the full rollout of COVID-19 vaccination among minors aged 12 to 17 on November 5.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire says the guidelines are being drafted.

The Health Technology Assessment Council of the Department of Health recommends the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for healthcare workers by fourth quarter of this year.

The council also recommends rolling out booster shots among eligible priority groups by next year.

HTAC says the recommendations are offered "in consideration of sufficient vaccine supply and acceptable coverage for primary vaccination."

Another 2.1 million doses of Moderna and more than 661,100 doses of Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccines arrive at NAIA Terminal 1 on Friday morning.

The Moderna vaccines are procured by the government while the Astrazeneca jabs were bought by the private sector.

As of August 22, about 12% of the estimated 109 million population have been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to date from the pandemic task force.

• First dose: 17,258,675
• Second dose: 13,130,485
• Total doses administered: 30,389,160

An additional 582,500 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Friday morning.

It is part of the private sector's "A Dose of Hope" program, pioneered by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion.

An estimated 10.45% of the 109 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 between March 1 and August 9, according to government data.

• Total doses administered: 24,479,750
• First dose: 13,087,781
• Second dose: 11,391,969

[VACCINE ROLLOUT UPDATE: 09 August 2021]

As of 08 August 2021, 6PM, a total of 24,479,750 doses have already been administered. 13,087,781 have received their first doses while 11,391,969 have already gotten the complete protection of the COVID-19 vaccines. pic.twitter.com/wHZ7tYh10q

— Department of Health (@DOHgovph) August 9, 2021

The Philippines on Tuesday receives 3,000,060 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines donated by the United States.

The latest donation is part of the P1.38 billion assistance of the US government to the Philippines since the onset of the pandemic.

Last month, more than 3 million Johnson & Johnson vaccines from the American government arrived in the country.

The Department of Tourism hails the City of Manila's drive-thru vaccination site at Quirino Grandstand, Rizal Park which opened on Saturday. 

“With the move to revert Metro Manila to the stricter enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) measure, this initiative will help establish the much needed resistance against the Delta variant of the virus," Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat says.

As of August 1, about 8.36% of the country's 109 million population have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

• Total doses administered: 20,863,544
• First dose: 11,747,581
• Second dose: 9,115,963

[VACCINE ROLLOUT UPDATE: 02 August 2021]

As of 01 August 2021, 6PM, a total of 20,863,544 doses have already been administered. 11,747,581 have received their first doses while 9,115,963 have already gotten the complete protection of the COVID-19 vaccines. pic.twitter.com/KrlZldxo7c

— Department of Health (@DOHgovph) August 2, 2021

China will donate more COVID-19 vaccines, Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian says at the inauguration of the China-funded Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge connecting Mandaluyong and Makati.

"As the Philippines is facing an increase in demand of vaccines, we will donate more and substantively increase supply of vaccines to the Philippines," Huang says.

At least 2.9 million Filipinos or about 2.6% of the 110 million population have been fully vaccinated as of July 4.

• Total doses administered: 11,708,029
• 1st dose: 8,839,124
• 2nd dose (fully vaccinated): 2,868,905

[VACCINE ROLLOUT UPDATE: 05 July 2021]

As of 04 July 2021, 6PM, a total of 11,708,029 doses have already been administered. 8,839,124 have received their first doses while 2,868,905 have already completed the required 2 doses. pic.twitter.com/xg2pXsMECv

— Department of Health (@DOHgovph) July 5, 2021

The inter-agency task force on COVID-19 has finalized protocols for fully vaccinated individuals:

• Intrazonal travel for fully vaccinated senior citizens within areas under GCQ and MGCQ shall be allowed, subject to presentation of vaccination card or certificate of quarantine completion.
• The presentation of a COVID-19 domestic vaccination card shall be sufficient alternatives to any testing requirement for interzonal travel. 
• The traveler needs to undergo health and exposure screening upon arrival in the destination. 
• In case fully vaccinated individuals are close contacts of COVID-19 cases they may undergo a 7-day quarantine. 
• No testing and quarantine shall be required for close contacts who may have been traced beyond the 7th day from the last exposure and who remained asymptomatic.

One million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines will be delivered to the Philippines this July, the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company says.

This will be followed by additional deliveries in the weeks and months following.

"The latest delivery estimates for the Philippines demonstrate our continuing partnership with COVAX, the national government, Department of Health, local government units, and the private sector, working together to help heal the nation," AstraZeneca Philippines country president Lotis Ramin says.

Japan will donate 1 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines.

Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko says the vaccine shipment is expected to arrive in Manila on July 8.

"We are working double time so this donation reaches Philippine shores without delay. Stay tuned!" the Japanese envoy says on Twitter.

One step closer to the Philippines’ goal of herd immunity? Count us in! One million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from Japan are expected to arrive in Manila tentatively on July 8. We are working double time so this donation reaches Philippine shores without delay. Stay tuned!

— Ambassador of Japan in the Philippines (@AmbJPNinPH) June 29, 2021

Efforts to reach "population protection" will be ramped up to 8 million vaccinations a month, says vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. at the taped Malacañang meeting aired Monday night.

This is after the country has achieved 5 million vaccinations a month, owing to the sustained arrivals of COVID-19 vaccine shipments in recent weeks.

Galvez reports that on June 29, some 99,600 more doses of Moderna will be delivered, after the arrival of the initial 249,600 doses on June 27. — with reports from Christian Deiparine

The Taguig City government says they are temporarily suspending inoculation for the first and second dose of Sinovac starting Monday until further notice.

"As of 12 noon, June 28, the DOH has yet to authorize the use of the vaccines we currently have in our cold chain facility; thus the need for cancellation of vaccination schedules," the Taguig LGU says.

"Rest assured that those who have not been vaccinated but are scheduled for today will be prioritized to be scheduled at the soonest available time," it adds.

It is possible for the National Capital Region and nearby provinces to reach herd immunity by Christmas given the current rollout of the vaccination program, a representative of OCTA Group said in a dzMM radio interview.

There is one condition for this to happen though: that the more contagious Delta variant, first detected in India, is prevented from community transmission.

A new thread on the Philippines' vaccination program in 2021 in the government's revised objective to reach "population protection." Bookmark our COVID-19 and Vaccination Dashboard for the latest figures on the pandemic in the Philippines. — Main image: The STAR/Michael Varcas, file