DOH: Over 1.4M COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Philippines

The Philippines has administered over 1.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of April 17, over a month since the start of its inoculation program, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said a total of 1,456,793 doses have been administered in 3,155 vaccination sites across the country.

Cabotaje said 1,264,811 Filipinos have received their first dose, 960,191 of whom are health workers, 128,018 are senior citizens, and 176,305 are persons with comorbidities.

Meanwhile, 191,982 health workers are now fully vaccinated after getting two doses.

The country has so far received 3,025,600 doses of AstraZeneca and Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccines.

“Baka makita niyo 1.4 million lang ang nabakunahan pero mga 3 million [doses received] na tayo. May second dose ‘yan. ‘Yung Sinovac, dapat naka-reserve na ‘yung second dose mo,” Cabotaje said in an online briefing.

(You might see that we have only administered 1.4 million doses but we have received around 3 million. There is a second dose. With Sinovac, you have to reserve the second dose.)

The health official also said that around 54,000 individuals deferred their vaccination to a later date due to issues like high blood pressure or the need to await medical clearance, especially for those who are pregnant or scheduled for surgery.

The Philippines began its COVID-19 vaccination program on March 1 with the inoculation of health workers. 

The vaccination campaign has since been expanded to cover senior citizens and persons with comorbidities.

The Philippines has logged 936,133 COVID-19 cases with 779,084 recoveries and 15,960 deaths as of Sunday afternoon. 

Vaccine deliveries

Meanwhile, Cabotaje said there was an “indication, [but] you know it may always change, that we have some Pfizer vaccines that are arriving end of April.”

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. has also said that 1 million Sinovac and 500,000 Sputnik V doses would be delivered to the country this month. 

Around 2.5 million doses from Sinovac and 900,000 from AstraZeneca are also expected in May. 

“Marami pang nakalaan na mga vaccine but it’s still the global shortage kung siguradong dadating o hindi (There are lots of vaccines allocated but it’s still up to the global shortage if they would arrive or not),” Cabotaje said. —KBK, GMA News