MANILA, Philippines (Updated June 21 at 9:51 a.m.) — The Philippines has administered over eight million doses of COVID-19 vaccine more than three months since the efforts began, inoculation czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Sunday.
Citing data from the National Vaccination Operations Center, he said 8,050,711 shots have since been given by June 18 from the 7,563,241 that Malacanang reported as of June 16.
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That would translate to 2,096,901 fully vaccinated individuals or 1.90% of the population, a figure that remains far from the 50 to 70 million target by officials this year to reach herd immunity.
Some 5,953,810, meanwhile, have received their first dose, per Galvez.
"There is no letup in our vaccination campaign," he said in a statement. "All sectors of society are working together so that we can start to move on from this pandemic, bring back a greater sense to our lives, and further open up our economy."
Vaccinations in the country began in March and remains for those in priority groups.
Galvez said 1,053,373 health workers have completed their shots, while 1,939,599 senior citizens got their first dose and 536,476 with their second.
Of those with comorbidities, he said 498,925 are now fully vaccinated, while 2,005,206 got their first shot.
Essential workers or those in the A4 list, meanwhile, were at 8,127 completely inoculated, with 452,600 with their first dose.
The senior administration official added that 23,826 indigents got their initial shot, as some local governments in Metro Manila began inoculation for the A5 list recently.
On June 15, the country saw its highest number of doses administered at 322,929, according to Galvez. He added that inoculations are underway in some 3,991 sites.
The Philippines has received 14,205,870 vaccine doses in total, a combination of donated and procured jabs.
Those being administered are Sinovac, Sputnik V, as well as Pfizer and AstraZeneca from the COVAX Facility. This month, Galvez said another 1.5 million with arrive on June 24, while the country will receive its first ever supply of Moderna at 250,000 doses by June 27.
COVAX, the World Health Organization-led initiative, will also send 2.02 million more AstraZeneca doses, while 150,000 of Sputnik V will also reach the country this month.