Palace confident 50% of target NCR population vaccinated by August 20

Malacañang expressed confidence Monday that at least 50% of target Metro Manila population will be vaccinated against COVID-19 by August 20 or the last day of the enhanced community quarantine in the National Capital Region.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque made the response when asked if the 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine given to Metro Manila will all be used from August 6 to 20 when the region is under ECQ to curb COVID-19 transmission.

"We should be [vaccinating] at 250,000. We are at 230,000, but that is not a bad number," Roque said.

"We are on our way to [vaccinating] 50% of Metro Manila's population," he added.

Last week, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said NCR is almost 40% of reaching its target of vaccinating 10 million residents to achieve herd immunity.

Based on government records, the number of fully vaccinated Filipinos nationwide is at least 12 million, way behind the 76.3 million target to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 by the end of the year.

As this developed, Roque said that people should not look for booster shots amid the limited COVID-19 vaccine supply.

"Let us wait for population protection first before we look for booster shot. If you are an overseas Filipino worker and your employer requires that certain brand, get that brand required of you and let others have the other brands," he said.

"Getting the vaccine is the only way to end this pandemic," he added.

Roque said that the masterlist of Filipinos who got the COVID-19 vaccine will be made by the Department of Information and Communications Technology and that it was just taking some time due to COVID-19 restrictions.

"Because of the pandemic, we had to do the masterlist as we go along, so we ask for a little patience," he said.—AOL, GMA News