The national government aims to have a steady supply of anti-COVID vaccines in the next three months in line with its goal of vaccinating 50 to 70 million Filipinos within this year.
“Ang target po namin ay magkaroon ng 4 million supply by April, while sa May naman po ang target ay 6 to 8 million,” said Sec. Carlito G. Galvez Jr, National Task Force against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and Vaccine Czar in a radio interview on March 19, Friday.
“Then this coming June, we are targeting 12 to 15 million vaccine doses. Ang best case scenario na in case mag ease up ang global supply at magre-release ang US at Europe ng supplies ay pwede po natin makuha talaga ‘yong target natin,” Galvez added.
According to the vaccine czar, the government is now conducting an average of 20,000 vaccinations a day across 1,084 vaccination centers out of the 1,500 nationwide. Each vaccination center can accommodate 100 to 120 individuals.
Galvez said around 269,583 medical frontliners and health care workers have been vaccinated throughout the country as of March 17. Next to be vaccinated are senior citizens based on the Department of Health’s priority list.
Yesterday, the Philippines government, together with the private sector, signed a tripartite agreement with American vaccine manufacturer Moderna, a development that is expected to provide a major boost to the nation’s vaccine program.
Under the agreement, the US-based company will supply the country with 20 million vaccine doses, 13 million of which were ordered by the government, while the 7 million were procured by private firms led by businessman Enrique Razon.
Aside from the Moderna vaccines, the government has also placed orders for Sinovac vaccines that will be shipped in tranches in the next three months. Two million doses are scheduled to arrive in April, another 2 million doses in May, and 4.5 million doses in June.
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