Quezon City hits new record: 16,649 vaccinated in 1 day

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government on Thursday hit a new record-high of 16,649 individuals inoculated against COVID-19 in a single day.

Joseph Juico, co-chair of the city’s vaccination task force, said the number does not include another 3,000 who were vaccinated in national government hospitals located in the city.

The city previously set a target of 24,000 vaccinations per day, but Juico noted that the lack of available vaccines prevents them from achieving this.

“We cannot target 24,000 now simply because we don’t have enough vaccines to roll out. What we do is we only activate vaccination sites depending on the available vaccines,” he told The STAR, noting that around six schools and 16 malls are currently on standby.

Juico said their supply of vaccines for first doses would last only until today, with delivery of additional supplies from the national government scheduled in the coming weeks.

“By next week, it seems that a majority if not all of the days will only be good for second doses,” he said, adding that they are currently pooling excess doses not used in some vaccination centers.

As of Thursday, Quezon City had administered 369,576 doses of COVID vaccines, including over 80,000 as second doses.

The number of those who have received their first doses represents around 16 percent of the initial target of 1.7 million residents, which is 70 percent of the adult population of the city.

This target may be adjusted, said Juico, noting that the city’s vaccination drive also covers those who work in Quezon City but live in other areas.

“We’re in a good place definitely, but it all depends on how soon the vaccines get here so we can roll out faster and plan better… We’re able to administer it as soon as possible,” he said, referring to vaccines provided by the national government.

The city has ordered 1.1 million doses of vaccines from AstraZeneca, although no specific schedule has been set for delivery.

According to Juico, close to 500,000 individuals have already registered for vaccination through the EZConsult app, with more signing up in their respective barangays.

He said they are further strengthening efforts to encourage more people to get vaccinated, including the possibility of providing assistance such as grocery bags to those belonging to disadvantaged sectors who will get inoculated.

“What we’re trying to do is entice people, especially in our urban poor communities, and educate on the importance of vaccination,” he said.

Aside from setting up vaccination centers across the city, including those in partnership with the church, schools and private sector, the local government has also opened drive-through vaccination centers, deployed vaccination buses to communities and initiated home-based vaccination for bedridden patients.