More than 190K Filipinos fully vaccinated vs COVID-19 — DOH

MANILA, Philippines — Over 191,000 individuals have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 more than a month since the start of the country’s inoculation campaign, the Department of Health said Monday.

The Philippines has administered 1,456,793 doses in 3,155 vaccination sites nationwide as of April 17, Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said in a briefing.

Broken down, 1,264,811 Filipinos have been afforded partial protection after getting their first doses of either AstraZeneca or Sinovac vaccines, while 191,982 health workers have been given second doses.

Of those who received first doses, 960,191 are medical frontliners, 128,018 are senior citizens, and 176,305 are individuals with comorbidities.

The country launched its COVID-19 vaccination program on March 1, with health workers getting the first shots. Authorities then decided to conduct the simultaneous vaccination of the top three priority groups to speed up the immunization efforts as the country battles a surge in cases.

Last week, the government approved the list of sectors included in the fourth priority group—economic frontliners in essential services—for vaccination.

The government is aiming to inoculate up to 70 million people in 2021.

“Vaccines work. Getting vaccinated with available vaccines in the country can prevent severe COVID-19 and thus can prevent death,” Cabotaje said.

Vaccine deliveries

To date, over 3.025 million COVID-19 jabs have been delivered to the country, Cabotaje said.

The health official said 500,000 doses of CoronaVac, the vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech, will arrive on April 22. Another half a million doses will be delivered on April 29.

“Some” Pfizer-BioNTech jabs from COVAX Facility may arrive and an initial 20,000 doses of Gamaleya Research Institute’s Sputnik V vaccine may arrive by end-April.

Cabotaje said a simulation exercise of the deployment of Sputnik V vaccine, which should be stored at -18°C, will be held before the remaining 480,000 doses will arrive. 

By May, 2.5 million CoronaVac doses and more AstraZeneca jabs from COVAX Facility are expected to arrive in the Philippines.