Gov’t to widen immunization drive as more COVID-19 vaccines arrive
The government is considering a parallel vaccination strategy that will include senior citizens and service workers in addition to the mass inoculation being done to the nation’s healthcare workers, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Monday.
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President Rodrigo
Roa Duterte presides over a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the
Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members prior to his talk to the
people at the MalacaΓ±ang Golf (Malago) Clubhouse in MalacaΓ±ang Park, Manila on
March 22, 2021. KING RODRIGUEZ/ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
In his report to
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during a meeting on government’s coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) intervention, Galvez said they are building the Vaccine
Deployment Scenario with the help of the private sector, particularly the Ayala
Group and the Custom Consulting Group. In this scenario, various groups will be
designated to handle the vaccination of different sectors.
“So ito po ‘yong way
forward po natin, Mr. President, na nakita po natin para po talaga mapabilis
ang ating --- to comply with your your guidance na magkaroon po na tayo ng
general public na vaccination,” Galvez said.
Inoculating a
portion of the country’s general public alongside frontline medical workers
could potentially offer the nation better protection from the deadly
coronavirus disease compared to the initial plan of vaccinating solely
healthcare workers only, he explained.
Galvez, who is also
the chief implementer of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, also
reported to President Duterte that other countries like the United States,
Israel, and Indonesia have adopted such strategy by vaccinating the next
“segments” even if previous segments are not yet fully immunized.
For instance, the US
vaccinated 11 percent of its healthcare workers on the first month of vaccination
drive before proceeding to inoculate essential workers, the elderly, and those
with existing medical conditions.
Israel, on the other
hand, first vaccinated 91 percent of its senior healthcare workers before
inoculating 50 percent of the residents aged 55 and above; 40 years old and
above; 35 years old and above; and 16 years old and above.
Likewise, Indonesia
inoculated 98 percent of its healthcare workers before proceeding to vaccinate
four percent of the elderly population; 15 percent of its public service
workers; and essential workers.
In the Philippines,
a total of 1,105,500 vaccine doses have been deployed, inoculating 369,049 or
21.71 percent of the country’s healthcare workers, said Galvez.
With a steady supply
of vaccines, Galvez said the government can also implement simultaneous
vaccination campaign, targeting to inoculate 500,000 to 1 million people per
week in April or May.
The country expects
to receive 2,379,200 vaccine doses of Sinovac and AstraZeneca in the first
quarter of this year, he said, noting that by year-end Philippines will have
received more than 140 million COVID-19 vaccine doses excluding the donations
through the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility.
The Philippine
government is negotiating the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines from
pharmaceutical companies Sinovac Biotech, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Novavax,
Johnson & Johnson, the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and
Microbiology, and Pfizer, he noted.
The Department of
Health (DOH) has logged 8,019 new COVID-19 cases on March 22, bringing the
country’s total number of infections to 671,792 with 577,850 recoveries and
12,972 deaths. PND
