DOH: Over 656,000 vaccinated vs. COVID-19

A total of 656,331 individuals have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of March 27, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

This figure is equivalent to 80.23% of all doses allocated for the first jab.

The DOH also said 2,494 vaccination sites across 17 regions are conducting inoculation.

Eighty percent or 1,233,500 out of the 1,525,600 doses that have been rolled out so far have also been distributed to vaccination centers.

The Philippines is set to receive 1 million more doses from China’s Sinovac Biotech on Monday afternoon. 

The government’s inter-agency COVID-19 task force earlier adopted a policy permitting the simultaneous inoculation of health workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities. 

Previously, only health workers were allowed to be vaccinated as they formed the top priority group.

The vaccination program drew controversy last week after several local officials and a celebrity received a jab despite not being part of any of the priority sectors. 

The Gavi Alliance has warned that countries caught violating the vaccination priority list will be made to pay for the doses donated by the COVAX Facility, a global initiative for equitable access to vaccines. 

The Philippines has 721,892 cases with 603,154 recoveries and 13,170 deaths as of Sunday afternoon. —KG, GMA News