Nearly 50 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in 2021—over 4 million away from PH’s year-end target
The Philippines has fully vaccinated nearly 50 million Filipinos in 2021, missing its target of completing COVID-19 vaccine doses for 54 million people by the end of the year.
As indicated in the Department of Health’s National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard, the country has recorded a total of 49,765,213 fully vaccinated individuals as of Friday, Dec. 31—over 4 million away from its year-end target.
The government held a mass vaccination program from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3 in the hopes of reaching its 2021 goal. According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, the initiative was able to administer jabs to 9,937,827 Filipinos.
Another nationwide vaccination drive was initially planned from Dec. 15 to 17, but it’s been moved to a later date due to Typhoon Odette—the strongest typhoon to hit the country in 2021. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. pointed out that if it didn’t ravage various regions in the PH, the 54-million goal could have been met. He, however, declared that it could still be achieved within the first or second week of January.
The PH, as per Galvez, will continue with its inoculation efforts to be able to reach its second target of fully vaccinating at least 77 million Filipinos by the end of the first quarter.
As of Jan. 1, the DOH has recorded 2,847,486 coronavirus cases in the Philippines—with 17,374 active cases, 2,778,567 recoveries, and 51,545 deaths.