Local governments outside Metro Manila will get the bulk of the three million doses of the newly arrived Sinovac vaccines.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 chief, said the government-procured jabs will be delivered to Regions 1, 4-A, 3, 6, 7, 9, and 11.
To date, the country has received 69,699,340 doses of various brands of anti-Covid vaccines. Galvez said he hopes the country could hit its 30% vaccinated population target by end this month.
Records show the Philippines has already administered 43,815,426 doses nationwide — 23,609,600 first shots and 20,205,826 second doses which represent about 26 percent of the target 70 million.
Galvez said the vaccination program slightly slowed down in recent weeks due to a spike in Covid-19 cases.
“Our daily average in vaccination slightly slowed down because the majority of our health care workers were reassigned in the Covid-19 [treatment] frontline,” he said. “We see that our vaccination has been sacrificed because it is the bigger priority to save the lives of those in hospitals.”
Once Covid-19 cases decrease, he said, the government will refocus on the vaccination program, and medical students will be part of the recalibrated vaccination drive.