DOH ready for 24/7 vaccination

MANILA, Philippines — The government is prepared to conduct inoculation activities around the clock, seven days a week once the mass vaccination program starts, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

“If the facilities are available, such as hospitals, we can do 24 hours vaccination… There will also be eight-hour shifts if we are already in the community. This will run seven days a week,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.

The DOH reiterated that the target vaccination rate of 70 percent of the population may be reached by yearend, which Vergeire described as the “best case scenario.”

However, she told a press briefing that the “worst case scenario” would be to achieve this by mid-2022.

“But now that we have a global shortage of vaccines, we foresee challenges in supplies,” she noted, adding that target date might be pushed back further.

The official underscored that they have already prepared a “vaccine deployment plan” wherein 70 percent target population are covered.

The government has set this target to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19, where even unvaccinated individuals are protected against the virus.

“If the supplies will come, we can very well finish and reach our target. All of this will depend on the supply of vaccines,” she said.

The latest case bulletin of the DOH showed that 1,557 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Feb. 24, bringing the total to 566,420.

Twenty-two patients have died raising the death toll to 12,129. On other hand, 392 patients have recovered, bringing the number of recoveries to 523,321.

Data show there are 30,970 active cases in the country.