MANILA – More vaccines and participation in the vaccination program are needed to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 Chief Implementer, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., is optimistic that the Philippines would be able to overcome the obstacles posed by the more transmissible Delta variant as long as vaccines continue to arrive.
“Kinaka-usap na po natin ang ating mga kababayan na (we are asking our countrymen that) we need to act together and we can beat the Delta variant when we act together,” Galvez said during a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday.
According to Galvez, the services of the Department of Health (DOH) and local government units (LGUs) make the national vaccination program possible.
So far, the Philippines has given out 20,863,544 doses across the country.
“I am very proud to present that we were able to breach 20 million doses administered. With the help of our DOH and LGU, nakita po natin na-break natin ‘yung record natin at saka objective natin (we have seen that we broke the record and beat our objective),” he said.
Galvez said the daily vaccination rate has increased significantly, with up to 523,081 doses and a total of 3,661,123 jabs used in the last seven days.
According to data, vaccine hesitancy among senior citizens and people with co-morbidities persists, but Galvez said that the government is working to address the issue through an awareness program.
So far, the Philippines has received 34,275,740 doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Sinovac, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Gamaleya Research Institute, Johnson&Johnson, and Moderna, which were both donated and purchased by the government and private sector.
In August, around 22.7 million doses are expected.
“It would be a huge step to meet the growing demand for vaccines within the regions and provinces nationwide,” Galvez added.
