Philippines hits 702K COVID-19 jabs administered in one day

The Philippines administered 702,013 doses of COVID-19 vaccines on August 3, its highest single-day output so far, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said Thursday.

In a statement, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the country surpassed its goal of administering 500,000 doses daily and reaching 700,000 daily jabs by the fourth quarter of the year.

“Our initial tally was just 673,652 but we received updated records from various regions on their output for Tuesday, including NCR, which was able to administer 203,000 doses in a single day,” Galvez said.

“We were able to reach this figure as early as August and it’s all because of the relentless efforts from our healthcare workers, local government units, private sector, and the Filipino people,” he added.

Out of the 702,013 jabs, 233,065 were administered as the first dose while nearly 500,000 were given as the second shot.

On August 3, the Philippines administered over 21 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19, with over 9.8 million individuals fully vaccinated. 

Galvez said the high number of fully inoculated individuals was partly due to the deployment of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was donated by the United States and the COVAX facility.

“We want to keep this momentum as we continue to push for more vaccine deliveries this month. Even with the ECQ (enhanced community quarantine), we will continue to increase our vaccination capacity in an orderly and efficient manner,” Galvez said.

Also on Thursday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said 10 million Filipinos have already been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, describing it as an "important milestone" in the country's vaccination program.

"Ngayon po we have reached a very important milestone in our national vaccination program. Kung dati-rati po nagkukumakahog kung saan kukuha ng bakuna ngayon po meron nang 10 milyong Pilipino na meron nang full protection laban sa kalaban nating COVID-19," Roque said at an event in Mandaluyong City.

(We have reached an important milestone. If in the past we are short of vaccine supply, now 10 million Filipinos are already fully protected against COVID-19.)

Data presented by the National Task Force Against COVID-19 showed the number of fully vaccinated individuals stood at 10.28 million as of Wednesday.

A total of 702,013 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered on Tuesday, the highest daily output the country has registered to date, according to NTF deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon.

Authorities earlier assured the public that COVID-19 vaccination will continue in Metro Manila even as it goes back into a strict lockdown from August 6 to 20 due to the threat of the highly contagious Delta variant. —LBG/KBK, GMA News