Presidential Peace adviser and concurrent National Task Force COVID-19 Response Chief Implementor Carlito Galvez Jr. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — About two million people in the Philippines could be vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by April this year, vaccine czar Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said Monday.
During a Senate inquiry on the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program, Galvez said 50,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine is expected to arrive in the country in February.
An additional 950,000 vaccine doses will also arrive in the country by March and another one million doses will arrive by April.
“Sa April po, ang mababakunahan ay more or less almost two million,” Galvez said. (So by the month April, more or less two million people will be vaccinated.)
He did not name which brand of COVID-19 vaccine will be the first to arrive but it will most likely come from Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinovac.
The government will also prioritize vaccinating people in Metro Manila, as well as Cebu City and Davao City, where the COVID-19 attack rate is high.
The Philippine government is eyeing to secure about 144 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines this year, Galvez said.
The Philippines has so far secured 30 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and may secure 60 million more this week.