MANILA, Philippines — A total of 2,554,023 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered on the first day of the government’s national vaccination program, Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje reported on Tuesday.
According to Cabotaje, the 2.5 million jabs injected is 2.5 times higher than the weekly average of one million.
The first-day data from the three-day vaccination program puts the Philippines in the fifth spot among the highest vaccines administered in a single day worldwide, the health official added.
Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) has the highest administration rate. It is followed by Central Luzon, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Bicol.
According to Cabotaje, there were reports that some vaccinees who walked in have not received a vaccine dose.
“Meron pong direktiba ang ating presidente to vaccinate everyone. So, ang directive po ay we allow walk-ins. Dapat pong walang uuwi ng nakapila na hindi nabakunahan,” Cabotaje said during the Laging Handa briefing.
(The president has a directive to vaccinate everyone. So, our directive is to allow walk-ins. No one in line should go home without receiving a shot.)
Cabotaje said that the data for the second day of the inoculation program would be released on Wednesday, given that vaccinators will become busy with their task for the day.
On Monday, Cabotaje noted that some vaccinators focus on giving vaccine doses rather than reporting the vaccine data.
When she gave an update on Monday, 52 percent of participating local government units have not transmitted their vaccination data yet.
The government targets to inoculate nine million Filipinos during the three-day event to achieve 54 million individuals vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of the year.
As of November 28, the country has fully inoculated 35,678,774, accounting for 46.25 percent of the target population. Meanwhile, 45,430,089 people or 58.89 percent of the target have received their first dose.
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