1M jabbed as vaccination drive resumes in several Odette-hit areas

More than a million people were vaccinated against COVID-19 on Monday as the mass inoculation campaign resumed in several areas affected by Typhoon “Odette” (international name: Rai), the head of the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) reported on Tuesday.

Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said 1,039,000 doses were administered on Monday, bringing to 3.7 million the total number of people jabbed since Dec. 15.

But she said some typhoon-hit areas had yet to resume their vaccination drives, among them northern Palawan, 14 out of 31 towns in Negros Occidental, and the provinces of Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Islands.

The second round of “Bayanihan Bakuhanan” was originally scheduled from Dec. 15 to Dec. 17. However, some local governments called off the event due to the typhoon and resumed only on Monday after the NVOC approved an extension.

A third mass vaccination drive is scheduled from Dec. 27 to Dec. 30, Cabotaje said, as the government targets to fully vaccinate 54 million Filipinos by the end of the year.

To ensure this, the NVOC may deploy its entire stockpile of single-shot Janssen vaccines.

“We are looking at using all the 9 million that arrived so that we can reach 54 million. But we know we have to double, triple our efforts, especially in many areas. We vaccinate more in areas that were not affected by the typhoon like Central Luzon and Calabarzon [regions] … We are still optimistic that we will meet the 54 million at the end of this year,” she said.