Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 22) — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has set an ultimatum for hospitals in the regions to use up all their COVID-19 vaccines or else they will be taken away, an official said on Monday.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said provincial hospitals have until March 24 to inoculate their healthcare workers before their supplies are recalled and given to medical frontliners in areas with high COVID-19 transmission, such as Metro Manila.
“They have to do this expeditiously especially now that the cases are rising… Nagbigay ng deadline si Secretary of Health. Kapag hindi pa naubos, hindi nila natapos, aming kukunin,” she said in a media briefing.
[Translation: The Secretary of Health gave a deadline. If there are unused vaccines or they have not yet completed the vaccination, we will take the vaccines.]
The health official assured that they could receive their next allocation once the next batch of vaccines arrive, possibly this month or in April.
Over three weeks since the inoculation drive began in the country, only 336,656 have been vaccinated — mostly healthcare workers. The low vaccination rate comes despite the fact that 98% or 1,105,600 out of 1,125,600 doses of AstraZeneca and Sinovac doses have been distributed in 1,623 vaccination sites in 17 regions.
Duque previously said vaccination has been slow because shots cannot be given en masse in hospitals to ensure there are sufficient staff at any given time and hospitals are fully operational.
Government officials assured the public that the current pace of the COVID-19 vaccination for healthcare workers is expected to rise exponentially once bulk of the government-procured doses, as well as those from the global initiative COVAX, arrive in the country.
RELATED: Vaccine czar not in favor of plan to recall doses sent to provinces
