COVID-19 vaccination of general public may start September or October — DOH exec

The vaccination of the general public against COVID-19 may start in September or October this year, the chairperson of the National Vaccination Operations Center said Tuesday.

“Baka September, October ‘yung general public (The general public might start getting vaccinated in September, October),” Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said in an online forum.

“Siguro pagdating ng September, halos konti na rin ‘yung general public kasi many of them are part of the poor, many of them are part of the A4, so konting konti na lang ang hindi na-include sa ating mga general population,” she added.

(Perhaps by September, there will only be a few people left in the general public sector because many of them are part of the poor, many of them are part of the A4.)

The projected schedule for the vaccination of the general public has been moved several times due to the limited vaccine supply.

Authorities initially said the general population could get their shots starting April but the date has since been moved to July and August.

“Ang premise natin ay (Our premise is) supplies permitting. We will have to balance. We need to vaccinate our A2, A3,” Cabotaje said, referring to senior citizens and persons with comorbidities.

“Supplies permitting, they may be allowed, but for the current supplies available, baka hindi pa kayang lahat ay bakunahan sa general population (the entire general population can’t be vaccinated yet),” she added.

August deliveries

The Philippines expects to receive 22,726,060 doses of COVID-19 vaccines this month, according to Cabotaje.

The arriving doses were either procured by the government and private sector or donated by the COVAX facility, the United States, United Kingdom, and China.

Brands set for delivery this month include AstraZeneca, Moderna, Sinovac, Sinopharm, and Pfizer.

As of August 2, the country has received over 34.3 million doses.

The Philippines has so far inoculated over 11 million individuals against COVID-19. — RSJ, GMA News