Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 7) — The government is setting a more realistic goal for the second round of the COVID-19 vaccination drive set next week.
President Rodrigo Duterte said this is because many Filipinos have already received their shots. Based on government data, 56.7 million have received one dose, while 38.1 million are now fully vaccinated in the country with a 110 million population.
“I hope that we would have the same success, but this time lesser because parang naubos na natin ang Pilipino sa ‘yung what counts sa bakuna kaya medyo there’s a slowdown of the COVID-19,” President Rodrigo Duterte said in his taped address.
[Translation: I hope that we would have the same success, but this time lesser because it seems that we have already vaccinated everyone, that’s why we’re seeing a slight slowdown of COVID-19.]
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday said they are eyeing to administer 7 million shots, mostly as a second dose, during the event set on Dec. 15 to 17.
“Ang tina-target natin dito mga 7 million para second dose, para maabot ‘yung ating pinupuntiryang 54 million by the end of the year na bigyan ng kumpletong bakuna,” he said.
[Translation: We are targeting 7 million for the second dose, so we can finally reach the target to fully vaccinate 54 million individuals.]
The Duterte administration fell short of its target to administer 9 million shots during the first round of the three-day mega vaccination. It reached 9.9 million after several local government units extended the drive for two more days.
The government initially wanted to vaccinate 77 million Filipinos by year-end to achieve herd immunity, but some officials have revised the new target to 54 million.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. said the 77 million target will likely be achieved by the end of the first quarter of 2022, while 90 million Filipinos will have received their doses by the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the country expects to receive 67.3 million more COVID-19 doses this month, according to presidential adviser for COVID-19 response Vince Dizon.
