Gov’t aims to inoculate 70 million Filipinos by December. 40 million doses from Pfizer arriving in August
The government may achieve its target of vaccinating 70 million Filipinos by December with the expected 40 million doses of Pfizer vaccines arriving by August and 44 million from COVAX within the year, Malacañang Palace said on Monday, June 21.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed that the government has signed a supply agreement with Pfizer/BioNTech for 40 million doses, its biggest Covid-19 vaccine deal to date.
With the Pfizer vaccines expected to be shipped by August, the Philippines will have secured a total of 113 million doses—26 million doses of Sinovac, 10 million doses of Sputnik V, 20 million doses of Moderna, and 17 million doses of AstraZeneca.
The government is still expecting to receive 1 million doses of donated Sinovac, and 44 million doses from the COVAX facility this year.
Roque also said that the vaccination target rate of 500,000 administered doses per day is possible once the 40 million doses from Pfizer arrive.
“Napatunayan na natin na kapag sapat ang supply, umaabot tayo ng 322,929 doses per day. Syempre po, ‘pag dumami pa ang supply, wala pong problema yung 500,000 per day,” he said.
The government has signed a supply agreement with Pfizer/BioNTech for 40 million doses, its biggest Covid-19 vaccine deal to date.
The Philippines recorded its highest daily Covid-19 vaccination rate yet on June 15, administering 322,929 doses. He added that if 500,000 doses are administered per day, it would only take 20 days for all 40 million doses of Pfizer vaccines to be used, and they will have administered 12 million doses by the time the Pfizer vaccines arrive in the country in August.
About 8,222,759 Filipinos have already received their first dose, with 2,120,134 being fully vaccinated as of June 19.
As of June 20, 12.7 million doses of vaccines from Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Gamelaya, and Pfizer have already arrived in the Philippines.
Banner photo by Eugene Chystiakov on Unsplash