POPULATION PROTECTION The Cebu City government conducts vaccination of its residents, like this one set up at a public school in Barangay Tisa. —NESTLE SEMILLA
MANILA, Philippines — The government has reached 97 percent of its target in the latest mass vaccination drive against COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.
“As of March 17, naabot ng Bayanihan, Bakunahan ang 97 percent of its target. Mahigit 1.8 million na ang bakunang naibigay nitong nakaraang National Vaccination Days (NVD),” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online press briefing.
(As of March 17, the Bayanihan, Bakunahan has reached 97 percent of its target. Over 1.8 million vaccine doses have been administered in the recent National Vaccination Days.)
In a Viber message to reporters, the DOH said that a total of 1.814 million vaccine doses have been administered during the program as of March 17. The government was aiming to administer a total of 1.87 million vaccine doses during the recent NVD.
According to Vergeire, the government was also able to vaccinate indigenous peoples who live in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas during the vaccination drive.
The fourth “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” drive was initially set on March 10 to 12. It was later extended for the general population until Tuesday and for the elderly until this Friday.
Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said that it may be the last “Bakunahan” drive as the government will just focus on areas with low vaccination coverage.
Nevertheless, Vergeire assured that the DOH will continue efforts to reach those who are still unvaccinated and have not received their booster shots against COVID-19.
She said that in total, 72.28 percent of the target population nationwide have already been fully vaccinated, while 77.96 percent have received at least one dose of a two-dose vaccine.
Meanwhile, 6.6 million senior citizens have been fully vaccinated while 1.9 million have received booster shots.
Over 1.4 million children aged five to 11 and 9.7 million of those aged 12 to 17 have been fully vaccinated, according to Vergeire.