Over 21 million Filipinos now fully vaccinated vs COVID-19

FILE PHOTO: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

MANILA, Philippines — As many as 21,103,317 million Filipinos are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Malacañang reported on Thursday.

The latest tally was as of Sept. 29, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.

He said nearly 45.1 million vaccine doses have so far been administered since the government launched the inoculation drive against COVID-19 in March.

Of this total, 22,541,383 were given as a first dose.

In Metro Manila alone, 7.2 million persons have already completed their COVID-19 vaccination, accounting for 73% of the target population.

Malacañang is calling on all parents to master-list their children who have comorbidities for COVID-19 vaccination as the government is set to expand the vaccination coverage in October.

Children with comorbidities will be included in the A3 priority group, which was previously only for adults with pre-existing conditions.

The government is set to begin the vaccination of the general population and minors and October, with priority over minors with pre-existing health conditions and comorbidities.

READ: PH to open COVID-19 vaccination for general population in October

READ: Pediatric COVID-19 vaccination to start with kids age 12-17 with comorbidity

The consent of minors and their parents’ or guardians is required before they can get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Minors should present their medical certificates in vaccination centers before they can get inoculated.

So far, only US-made COVID-19 vaccines Pfizer and Moderna are approved by the Food and Drug Administration to be used on minors.

READ: Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine approved for use on those aged 12-15 – DOH

The government has so far only prioritized the COVID-19 vaccination of health workers (A1), senior citizens (A2), persons with comorbidities (A3), economic frontliners (A4) and indigent citizens (A5).