China pledges to donate more COVID-19 vaccines to Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — China pledged Thursday that it will donate more COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines, which will boost Manila’s jab supply amid the threat of the more contagious Delta coronavirus variant.
“As the Philippines is facing an increase in demand of vaccines, we will donate more and substantively increase supply of vaccines to the Philippines,” Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian said during the inauguration of the China-funded Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge that connects the cities of Makati and Mandaluyong.
The Chinese envoy did not specify how many doses would be donated and what vaccine brand they will be giving to the Philippines.
The China-made Sinovac shot currently makes up the bulk of the Philippines’ vaccine supply, accounting for 18.5 million of the 32,861,300 doses Manila has so far received. Of these doses, one million were donated by the Chinese government.
Japan and the United States have also donated vaccines to the Philippines, with Tokyo giving Manila 1,124,100 AstraZeneca doses and Washington providing 3,240,850 Johnson & Johnson doses through the global vaccine sharing platform COVAX facility.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has also pledged to donate 415,000 AstraZeneca doses to the Philippines.
Data presented by Malacañang on Thursday show that 7.27 million, or just 6.66% of the population, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, far behind the government’s goal of inoculating at least 50 to 60 million people by year-end, a target that has been revised downward from its initial aim of vaccinating 70 million to achieve herd immunity.
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
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.
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