MANILA -- The government has secured ample supply of COVID-19 vaccines that could be administered throughout August as the country received a total of 27.9 million doses of the jabs out of the 164 million doses for procurement, the country’s vaccine czar said on Monday.

“So mayroon po tayong ample na supply na hindi po tayo kakabahan sa month ng August. Ang tinitingnan po natin ngayon ‘yung month ng September,”
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said in his report to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in Davao City.

Galvez, who is also the chief implementer of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, said they expect to receive the remaining 136.1 million doses or 83 percent within six months.

Of the total number of vaccines delivered, 15.1 million doses were administered; 10 million as first dose and 4.7 million as second dose, according to Galvez.

“And then ‘yung ating stockpile, doses to be administered on stockpile on the different warehouses is 12.8 million. Nasabi na po natin na ‘yung 12.8 million ay equivalent po ‘yan sa 32 days na gagamitin po natin na ang average is 400,000 a day,” he told the President.

So far, more than 4.7 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated after the Philippines has breached the 15 million mark of administered COVID-19 vaccine doses last July 17, he stressed. It only took government three days to administer one million jabs after it reached 14 million last July 14.

“Meaning, ibig sabihin po, Mr. President, is sa tatlong araw nakapagbabakuna po tayo ng isang milyon. Iyon po ang na-accomplish po natin ngayon, Mr. President.”

The government also reached the highest throughout last July 15, with 391,283 jabs.
It also achieved the highest number of jabs administered on a weekly basis after administering 1.8 million doses last week, he reported.

Galvez said the arrival of more vaccines in the country is the reason why more Filipinos are receiving their jabs in the past few days.

Last month, the Philippines only received 9 million doses, but this month, it already had more than 10 million doses considering it’s just mid-July, the vaccine czar said, adding they expect to receive an additional 9,353,340 doses.

In total, the Philippines already acquired 27.9 million doses of Pfizer, Moderna, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

The government deployed last week 3 million doses of AstraZeneca donated the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility and Japan and one million doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac procured from China.

Another 3.2 million dosages of Johnson & Johnson vaccine are also being deployed to different areas.

Since the detection of the Delta variant in the country, the government has prioritized sending vaccines to areas of concern — Northern Mindanao, National Capital Region (NCR), Western Visayas, and those under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ). (PND)