MANILA, Philippines — The total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the Philippines have surpassed the three million-mark.
Data from the health department, which was presented by vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. during President Rodrigo Duterte’s pre-recorded public address aired Tuesday, showed that a total of 3,001,875 doses have been administered in the country as of May 16.
Of the total, 2,282,273 were administered as first dose while 719,602 were given as second dose.
Galvez said the government has recently been able to conduct 120,000 vaccinations per day from the previous 30,000 jabs a day.
The average of vaccinations a day may still increase in the coming days, he added, with the government aiming to achieve two million vaccinations this month, he added.
However, he revealed that there are people under the A2 priority group (senior citizens) and A3 priority group (persons with comorbidities) who are still reluctant to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“May iba na resistant kaya kailangan na talagang mapangaralan ‘yung mga A2, mga seniors at mga may comorbidities na talagang magpabakuna sila,” Galvez said.
(There are still people who are resistant and they should be educated so that they could be vaccinated.)
According to the DOH data, a total of 1,635,193 doses were administered to health workers, 689,609 to senior citizens, 667,687 to persons with comorbidities, while 9,147 were given to essential frontliners.