FILE PHOTO: Residents undergo counseling before receiving their first dose of Sinovac Biotech’s CoronaVac vaccine for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Barangay Sucat Covered Court, in Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila, Philippines, June 21, 2021. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David
MANILA, Philippines — The government aims to vaccinate the general public against COVID-19 by September or October as it expects expansion of its vaccine stock in the coming months, the chairperson of the National Vaccine Operations Center (NVOC) said Tuesday.
Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said that vaccination for the general population can be started towards the last quarter of the year considering the current vaccination coverage for priority groups.
“Baka September, October ‘yung general public (The general public may be vaccinated by September or October),” she said when asked of the government’s target for vaccinating the rest of the population.
According to Cabotaje, the target vaccine recipients under the general population, or healthy individuals aged 18 to 59 not belonging in the top tier of priority groups, may already be lower as some of them are also members of the indigent sector under A5.
Over 21 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far in the country, says Health Usec. Myrna Cabotaje. Over nine million Filipinos are now fully vaccinated. @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/Xw19fqEGSK
— Cathrine Gonzales (@cgonzalesINQ) August 3, 2021
Back in April, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the country aims to vaccinate the general public by August depending on the supply of anti-COVID shots.
Meanwhile, Cabotaje said experts are studying if the general population and children below 18 years old should be vaccinated simultaneously.
For the month of August, the government expects to receive around 22.7 million doses of various COVID-19 vaccines, which will increase the country’s stockpile of anti-coronavirus shots to 56.5 million doses.
The country administered 21 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of August 2. Data from NVOC showed that 11.8 million Filipinos are partially vaccinated while 9.3 million are already fully vaccinated.
The government aims to vaccinate around 70 million individuals to achieve herd immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the potentially deadly respiratory illness COVID-19.