Go: 10 million vaccines to arrive next month
MANILA, Philippines — Around 10 million doses of COVID vaccines will arrive in the country next month, giving the government sufficient supply for A4 and A5 categories, Sen. Bong Go said yesterday.
Go appealed to President Duterte, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and other officials involved in the national vaccination program to consider allocating appropriate and acceptable vaccines for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), including seafarers in their countries of destination.
“We expect about 10 million vaccines to arrive this June. So the brands that suit the conditions or needs of each sector such as the OFWs, must be allocated properly,” Go said.
“Some OFWs are hesitant to get vaccinated because some countries require a specific brand, although our vaccines at hand are proven safe and effective,” he added.
Go, chairman of the Senate committee on health, said that OFWs must be vaccinated immediately so they could resume their work instead of waiting for all vaccine brands to be certified compliant with the regulations of their countries of destination.
“If possible, we should allocate a vaccine that is suitable for them and is acceptable in countries of their destination,” he said.
Go urged the OFWs to support the national vaccine rollout, with an assurance that their concerns are being considered.
Those belonging to the A1, A2 and A3 categories can now be vaccinated, while those who belong to the A4 category can be vaccinated soon once the vaccine supply is sufficient.
Data from the National Task Force Against COVID showed a total of 4.10 million doses of vaccines have been administered either as first or second dose throughout the country as of May 22.
Meanwhile, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the government should fulfill its promise of vaccinating at least 60 percent of the population by yearend, noting the current inoculation rate is “way off track.”
Hontiveros issued the call as the National Vaccination Operations Center reported over the weekend that there are 4.10 million Filipinos that have so far been vaccinated against COVID.
“It will be half a year. Where to pick up their ‘better Christmas’ when so few are vaccinated in the whole country? We are way below our targets. In this current scenario, by 2023 we will reach herd immunity,” Hontiveros said.
She cited the “moving vaccination goal posts” of the Palace and Inter-Agency Task Force.
“With the slow nationwide vaccine rollout, only targets have been adjusted. The President first said 70 percent will be vaccinated by the end of the year. The IATF lowered that to 50 to 60 percent. But no matter what percentage they choose as their new target in their next briefing, what is clear is that only .86 percent of the country’s population has completed the vaccination. What is clear now, is that this administration is really just paasa,” Hontiveros said.
Experts like former health secretary Manuel Dayrit had said that officials have to ramp up the vaccination to be able to trigger herd immunity.
Dayrit said the daily vaccination rate should be at least 350,000 to 500,000 jabs.
“Right now, we are only hitting 100,000 to 160,000 when it comes to the rate of vaccination per day. That is not enough to end what the country is going through under this pandemic. If we want to see a glimpse of normalcy very soon, we have to ramp up our vaccination efforts,” Hontiveros said.
Independent vaccine trackers show the Philippines lags behind its neighbors in the Southeast Asian region when it comes to inoculating the population.
While the country ranks second in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in terms of number of people vaccinated, the Philippines ranks ninth out of 10 countries in terms of doses administered per 100 people.
“Enough of misleading the public on international benchmarking for COVID-19 vaccination. No matter how they flip the data, we know we are lagging behind,” Hontiveros said.
For Sen. Joel Villanueva, the easing of joblessness hinges on the government’s doubling its present vaccination rate of 162,513, which is the recent seven-day average.
“The most effective employment formula is the more jabs we administer, the more jobs we create,” Villanueva, chair of the Senate committee on labor and employment, said.
“If we can increase our vaccination rate to 325,000 doses a day, we will be delivering 72 million doses from now until the end of the year,” he said.
“The 72 million is half of the 140 million doses for 70 million people required to achieve herd immunity,” he added.
He said the government’s original plan was to vaccinate 70 million Filipinos by year-end with the expected deliveries of at least 140 million doses.
“So the 325,000 daily doses have a 50 percent discount on the government’s assurance that 140 million doses will come this year,” he said.
Villanueva said a 325,000 daily jab rate should be the minimum speed, however, it is still “underspeeding.”
He expressed optimism that this can be reached “once private companies get into the act.”
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