Over 46M doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered as of Oct. 2; youths next —NTF

A total of 46,251,087 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered nationwide as of October 2, data from the National Vaccination Operations Center showed, according to the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19.

Of this number, 24,513,343 were first doses, while 21,737,744 were second doses.

Vaccines for youth

NTF Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Sunday said the government is confident it can already inoculate the youth aged 12 to 17 due to the country's increasing vaccine supply.

“Meron na tayong enough supply for the pilot implementation. ‘Yung pilot rollout naman natin initially ay sa Metro Manila muna. Kayang kaya ‘yun,” said Galvez.

(We have enough supply for the pilot implementation. The pilot rollout initially is in Metro Manila. We can do this.)

“We want to open up our schools, and by vaccinating our children, we can sustain that,” he said.

The country's COVID-19 vaccine supply is at 77,410,640 doses as of Sunday after 1,813,500 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine donated by the US government through the COVAX facility arrived before dawn.

Galvez said the NTF has estimated the target population of 12 to 17 year old youths at 12.7 million, also the same number quoted

Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines will be used for the youths as these brands were given emergency use authorization for that age group by the Food and Drug Administration.

US Embassy Chargé d’affaires Heather Variava welcomed the government's move to soon begin the vaccine rollout among the youth. She said the vaccinations of adolescents in the US have been successful and safe so far since these were rolled out in May this year.

US Agency for International Development (USAID) health director Michelle Lang-Alli said the severe hospitalization and death have been prevented because of the aggressive vaccine rollout of the Philippine government.

“With this current surge we’re having, it could have been much worse particularly here in NCR (National Capital Region) if we [did] not [have] the vaccines and the efforts that are being made,” Lang-Alli, said.

Galvez for his part said he expects the vaccination rates to go up as more vaccines arrive.

“This delivery is very timely, (because) when the cases are going down, the LGUs (local government units) can concentrate now on vaccinating more people,” he said. 

A2 and A3

Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe urged the government to prioritize vaccinating senior citizens (A2 priority group) and those with comorbidities (A3 priority group).

“Although the case numbers are declining, there is still a big population of elderly and comorbid [people] who need to be protected,” Abeyasinghe said.

“As we recalibrate, we recognize that we need to bring back economic activity. But the optimum use of vaccination will be to increase the coverage of priority groups,” he added.

“This way, we can bring back a sustainable opening of the economy,” the WHO official said. —KG, GMA News