Palace: 45M Pinoys fully vaccinated vs. COVID-19

Some 45 million Filipinos have already been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Malacañang said Wednesday.

Acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said the number of fully vaccinated individuals against COVID-19 is at 45,284,617 as of latest count.

On the other hand, the number of those who already received the first of the two-dose vaccine is 60,212,001.

These make the total doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered so far at 102,995,133 million as of December 21.

The government is eyeing to fully vaccinate 54 million Filipinos by the end of the year, 77 million by March 2022, and 90 million by the time President Rodrigo Duterte's term ends on June 30, 2022.

The government started its COVID-19 vaccination program on March 1, but vaccination for those aged 12 to 17 did not start until the middle of November.

The administration of booster shot or the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for ages 18 and above has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) three months after the second dose of two-dose COVID-19 vaccine and two months after the single dose vaccine.

At least 19 million fully vaccinated individuals are expected to be qualified to get a booster shot following the FDA's decision.  —KBK, GMA News