MANILA – The Philippines has administered 146,869,397 doses of coronavirus vaccines nationwide, with 67,911,464 million Filipinos already fully vaccinated, according to the latest report of the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19.
The data presented during the prerecorded “Talk to the People” of President Rodrigo Duterte aired Tuesday morning also showed that 4,779,495 are waiting for their second primary doses while 7,430 have second booster shots since the official rollout on April 25.
NTF chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the vaccination coverage significantly declined since December last year, leaving only 13,231,643 with first booster shots.
He noted that of the total fully vaccinated, 94 percent belong to the 18 to 59 age group while 80 percent are senior citizens.
“We are calling on those who haven’t received their vaccines and boosters to be vaccinated because we want the incoming election on Monday not just honest and orderly but also safe from Covid-19,” he said.
Galvez cited the need to increase the vaccine demand amid complacency over low Covid-19 cases.
“Despite the slowing of vaccination output but already high vaccination coverage, 8 out of 17 regions are now on Alert Level 1 and 42 provinces out of 81 also under Level 1,” he said.
Twenty-four provinces are still behind the 70-percent vaccination coverage — Davao del Norte, Bohol, Antique, Negros Occidental, Western Samar, Benguet, Davao de Oro, Davao del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Cebu, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Masbate, Ifugao, Davao Occidental, Sarangani, Palawan, Negros Oriental, Lanao del Norte, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Lanao del Sur.
Further, Galvez cited the significant contributions of the private sector in the country’s Covid-19 pandemic responses, thanking them for helping the government increas testing capacity from a single polymerase chain reaction test laboratory to 334 currently operational laboratories nationwide — 155 of them manned by the government.
From 1,000 daily, testing capacity has reached 76,000 per day.
“We believe the national government cannot do it alone,” he said.
The government likewise partnered with the private sector in procuring and donating personal protective equipment for health care workers at the height of the pandemic.
Galvez said such strong partnerships resulted in the construction of isolation facilities, mobilization of private hospitals and medical clinics for Covid-19 treatment, massive vaccination program, and insurance packages.
“The weekly forum and meeting provided us the broader perspective on the global and regional context of Covid response and vaccination that’s why we are able to garner 83 percent approval for the government and President Duterte’s Covid-19 response rating in an OCTA Research survey,” Galvez said. (PNA)