Residents undergo counseling before receiving their first dose of Sinovac Biotech’s CoronaVac vaccine for COVID-19 at the Barangay Sucat Covered Court, in Muntinlupa on June 21, 2021. (File photo from REUTERS)
MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila mayors fell short of the target of administering four million COVID-19 vaccine doses during the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the region, according to Chairman Benhur Abalos of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
“We did not reach it but we are trying our best,” Abalos said in Filipino when asked in a briefing on Wednesday if the target had been achieved.
Before the ECQ was implemented, Metro Manila mayors requested four million additional vaccine doses that they pledge to administer in the two-week period of the strictest quarantine.
READ: Metro Manila mayors want 2-week NCR lockdown, inoculations without classifications
Abalos noted, however, that Metro Manila achieved its highest daily vaccination record of 240,000 last Aug. 12.
Citing data from the Department of Health, he said Metro Manila had administered 10.7 million vaccine doses so far.
The ECQ in Metro Manila will end on Friday.
Abalos said mayors of 16 cities and one municipality in Metro Manila had passed on the decision on the next community quarantine status to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).