Palace confident of hitting target of 54M fully vaccinated Pinoys vs. COVID-19 by end of 2021

Malacañang said Tuesday that the Duterte administration is confident of reaching the target of fully vaccinating 54 million Filipinos against COVID-19 by the end of the year.

"Yes, we are confident because our local government units and our fellow Filipinos will be working to reach the 54 million target by the end of 2021," acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said.

Nograles expressed such confidence a day ahead of the second round of "Bayanihan, Bakunahan", the nationwide vaccination set December 15 to 17 which is eyeing to vaccinate seven million individuals. President Rodrigo Duterte however moved the said vaccination activity in some areas to December 20 to 22 due to the incoming Severe Tropical Storm Rai, which will be renamed Odette upon entry to the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Tuesday. 

During the first round of nationwide vaccination held last November 29 to December 3, more than 9.9 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered.

The government initially set a target of 15 million vaccine doses administered for the November 29 to December 1 national vaccination days, but this number was lowered to nine million. It took extended vaccination days to breach the nine million mark.

Latest government data show that at least 37.8 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Nograles earlier said that the Duterte administration hopes to fully vaccinate 77 million individuals by March 2022 and 90 million by the time President Rodrigo Duterte's term ends on June 30, 2022. —KG, GMA News