(FILE) VACCINATION DAY In San Juan City on Tuesday, senior citizens, health workers, and adults with illnesses gather at San Juan Arena to get their first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — Local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila have committed to vaccinating 120,000 persons per day as part of efforts to make sure that the 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines will be used up before its expiration date in June and July.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Wednesday that Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benhur Abalos made this promise to him to ensure that all vaccine doses delivered from the COVAX Facility will be dispensed.
“Chairman Abalos has already committed. We are going to put the lion’s share of the AZ (AstraZeneca) here in the epicenter, the NCR (National Capital Region). They said that they can, they have committed to inoculate 120,000 vaccinees per day,” Duque said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.
The Health Secretary noted that the AstraZeneca doses will be given to priority groups before the expiry date if this will be the rate of vaccination in Metro Manila.
“We are mindful of the expiration. This is gold. We cannot afford to be dilly-dallying in terms of implementing our vaccine rollout plan so we are aggressively pursuing this,” he added.
Earlier in April, Abalos said that Metro Manila LGUs have the capacity to administer 120,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine per day if only there is a steady supply of the jabs in the country.
Duque said that vaccination in Metro Manila should be done “aggressively,” adding that inoculation is “part of our arsenal to combat the surge in the NCR.”
Metro Manila currently has 17,586 active cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday. Nationwide, the active cases are currently at 56,752.