Only 1.2 million Filipinos fully vaccinated vs COVID-19

Residents of Subic, Zambales, who belong to the priority sector, wait for their turn to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at the municipal gymnasium. (Photo from the Subic municipal health office)

MANILA, Philippines — At least 1.206 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or have received two shots already since the government’s vaccination rollout in late February.

Numbers from the Department of Health (DOH), the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said on Monday that 5.180 million vaccine doses have been administered to 3.974 million individuals as of Sunday, May 30.

Of this number, only 1.206 million have received their second doses.

“As of 30 May 2021, 6PM, a total of 5,180,721 doses have already been administered. Of this, 3,974,350 are 1st doses, and 1,206,371 are 2nd doses. This equates to over 1 million people that have been given the full protection of the COVID-19 vaccines,” the government statement said.

“The total doses administered in the 13th week of our national vaccination reached 1,022,598 doses, spread over an average of 1,124 active reporting vaccination sites,” it added.

The agencies assured the public that the vaccination pace is set to become quicker once more facilities are set up, and more vials arrive from major pharmaceutical companies across the world.

Still, individuals who are part of priority groups are urged to register and get vaccinated against COVID-19, and complete the doses at the same time.

The top priority of the COVID-19 vaccinations are the country’s frontline health workers, which fall under the A1 classification.  Senior citizens and persons with co-morbidities are classified as A2 and A3, respectively.

“The number of operational vaccination sites is based on the current supply of vaccines in the country. Once additional supplies arrive, the number of active sites will increase, and our vaccination pace will ramp up,” the government noted.

“The government is urging eligible populations belonging to priority groups A1 to A3 to register, get vaccinated and complete the required number of doses as scheduled. The vaccinated population are also urged to continue practicing the minimum public health standards as you may still get infected with COVID-19 and infect other people,” it added.

The country is banking on COVID-19 vaccines to restart the economy and go back to normalcy by the end of the year.  While current numbers are lower than what the country saw during a surge in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces, DOH’s recent COVID-19 bulletins show a slight rise in cases.

On Monday, the country’s active COVID-19 cases moved to 54,290 after DOH reported 6,684 new infections.  All in all, there are 1,230,301 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.

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EDV