According to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr., the delivery of vaccines from the U.S. will be completed by the first week of October.
Galvez agreed with Abeyasinghe’s observation, saying government officials are convincing the elderly to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
A statement from the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said that, to date, the country has received a total of 64,942,000 vaccine doses of different brands.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 20) — Over two million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine donated by the United States arrived in the country Monday.
“9,586,270 doses were delivered from Sept. 13 to 19, making it the highest weekly delivery since February when the country started receiving vaccines from various manufacturers,” said the NTF.
The 2,020,590 doses that arrived earlier were donated through the Covax facility and are part of the U.S. commitment to allocate 10 million Pfizer shots for the Philippines.
From the over 9 million doses delivered, 6.65 million were government-procured, 909,400 doses were purchased by the private sector and local government units, and 2.02 million doses were donations from the Covax facility.
He added the vaccines will be sent to regions experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases, particularly provinces in Northern Luzon.
“As of Sept. 19, 41,414,015 jabs have been administered nationwide, of which 18,560,409 are fully vaccinated individuals or 24.06% of the country’s 77 million target population,” the NTF said.
A second batch of 561,600 doses of Pfizer vaccines, also from the Covax facility, arrived at past 9 p.m., bringing the total Pfizer vaccine doses delivered today to 2,582,190.
Meanwhile, more than 22.85 million persons have received their first dose.
World Health Organization Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said the donation can help the country address the COVID-19 surge it is experiencing, adding that it should be used to inoculate senior citizens as over 3.5 million elderly Filipinos are still unvaccinated.
Galvez also said 22 million more doses are scheduled to arrive in the country by month-end or by the first week of October, and the total vaccine deliveries are expected to hit more than 100 million doses by the end of next month.
“Pfizer vaccines are coming at an excellent time,” he said during the vaccine arrival. “(It is) meant to help the Philippines respond to the current surge and protect as many Filipino lives as possible.”
