Duque: Philippines aiming to vaccinate 450,000 daily starting April

The Philippines aims to vaccinate 450,000 individuals against COVID-19 every day starting April once millions of additional doses arrive, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Wednesday.

“We’re looking at 4,500 vaccination sites with each site vaccinating 100 individuals. We’re looking at about 450,000 vaccinees per day,” he told ANC in an interview.

Duque said the Department of Health has acquired the number of personnel needed to man the vaccine sites.

He added that vaccination will be ramped up to 450,000 daily “as soon as the vaccines come, [around] April.”

The Philippines is set to receive over 2.3 million more doses from Sinovac and AstraZeneca this month. 

“That should suffice to complete our vaccination of the most prioritized group, [the] healthcare workers,” Duque said.

The health secretary previously said the Philippines can achieve herd immunity in 11 to 12 months if it vaccinates 450,000 people daily.  

The seven-day moving average of daily vaccinated individuals stood at 23,466 as of March 15.

The COVID-19 vaccination program, which was only launched at the start of the month, has so far covered 240,297 individuals. — Julia Mari Ornedo/RSJ, GMA News