National Task Force against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said in his report to President Rodrigo Duterte during the Talk to the People on Tuesday night, that the major goal of this is to achieve the remaining milestone of 77 million, 90 million, and then total population by next year.
Galvez said the government will target inoculating those who haven’t received COVID-19 jab, provide booster doses, and protect children in preparation for in-person classes.
He said another goal of the government vaccination campaign is to ensure the safety of both the medical and economic frontliners.
Galvez said to achieve this, the government will carry out mobile, barangay-to-barangay vaccinations, which were proven very effective.
He cited a successful inoculation campaign in one barangay, which was able to vaccinate big number of people.
“At ‘yun po ang nakikita namin na baka gawin po ni Secretary Año, gagawa rin po siya ng memorandum na magkakaroon na po ng barangay-to-barangay at saka ‘yung house-to-house vaccination site,” he said.
“Kasi kung ang gagawin po natin na doon sa malls --- sa malls lang po ang vaccination site, minsan po hindi po makapunta ‘yung mga tao doon sa malls. So kailangan talaga ibaba po sa barangay ang ating mga vaccination site, ” Galvez added.
Galvez said to further protect vaccinated individuals, booster shots will be administered three months after the second dose. The three-month spacing has been approved by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and will be executed soon.
He said in preparation for face-to-face classes, the government will vaccinate children aged five to 11 years, he said, adding Pfizer Inc. has already applied for an emergency use authorization (EUA) for this age group.
Galvez said that government departments have also agreed that 15 million of the 20 million doses being procured from Pfizer will be allotted for children five to 11 years old.
He also said in his report that under the current state of vaccination, the country still has enough supply for the 54-million target this year that includes allocation for minors and for booster doses.
Authorities have also scaled down procurements to 70 million doses from 90 million because of the huge volume donated by the COVAX vaccine-sharing platform.
Galvez said the COVAX facility donated more than 63.5 million doses, on top of the 10.2 million doses donated by the US government.
“Magdo-donate po sila (US) ng another 10 million Pfizer at dumating nga po kahapon at ngayon ‘yung initial na 3.4 million na Pfizer na tinanggap ko po. At ‘yung another more or less 6.8 darating po next year,” he said.
Galvez said other donations come from the country’s bilateral partners. These donors include the Netherlands, European Union, France, United Kingdom, Syria, Poland, Germany, and China.
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