MANILA -- President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Monday, November 29 attended the launching of Bayan Bakunahan, the country’s first massive nationwide vaccination drive against COVID-19, and made a renewed call to unvaccinated individuals to get the jab so that the country could overcome the coronavirus pandemic.

The three-day event, also known as the National Vaccination Days, aims to inoculate around 9 million Filipinos across 16 regions nationwide in a bid to gradually bring the country back to normalcy after grappling with the effects of the contagion.

“This is our single biggest push to fast-track vaccination and reach our target of 70 percent population protection nationwide,” President Duterte said during the launch at SM City Masinag in Antipolo City, Rizal.

Launching Bayan Bakunahan during the nation’s observance of Bonifacio Day is also “a resounding expression” of Filipinos’ bayanihan spirit and courage to face challenges, President Duterte added.

Getting vaccinated also shows genuine concern for fellow citizens, he stressed.

Meanwhile, President Duterte thanked local government units (LGUs), national government agencies, and the private sector for successfully organizing the Bayan Bakunahan vaccination drive.

He also commended the National Task Force Against COVID-19, Department of Health (DOH), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for their successful vaccination campaigns and negotiations with the private sector.

The Philippine government’s collaboration with the private sector has ensured the equal distribution of vaccines across the country, he noted.

“It is very important for us to take a whole-of-nation approach to win against the coronavirus that has sorely plagued our country for almost two years,” he said.

Bayan Bakunahan, which will run until December 1, has 8,000 sites throughout the Philippines and is open for all eligible individuals who wish to be inoculated against the deadly coronavirus.

The Duterte administration seeks to fully vaccinate 54 million Filipinos and 80 percent of the population of minors aged 12 to 17, as well as complete the booster shots of individuals belonging to priority groups before the end of the year. (PND)