A World Bank official said the Philippines’ coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is in a “good place,” as per a statement released by the Department of Finance (DOF) yesterday, as the rollout of vaccines picked up pace this quarter.
The DOF said Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank regional vice president for East Asia and the Pacific, in a recent virtual meeting with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez expressed hope that the pace of the Philippines’ vaccination rollout continues to enable it to achieve its target of immunizing 100 percent of its adult population this year.
“I think you are in a good place with your vaccination program and I hope it continues,” Kwakwa said.
The DOF said Kwakwa expressed concern that with the deadlier COVID-19 Delta variant spreading across the globe, other countries in Asia may experience surges as they have either been late in procuring the vaccines or are slow in vaccinating their citizens.
Dominguez said from a low of less than three million vaccine doses received by the Philippines in the first quarter of this year, this volume has since increased to some 25 million doses in the April to June period.
He informed Kwakwa that the much bigger delivery of about 70 million vaccine doses is expected this third quarter, and over 50 million doses in the last quarter of 2021.
All these procured vaccines are enough to inoculate more than 100 percent of the country’s population, Dominguez said.
During the meeting, DOF said Kwakwa also thanked Dominguez and other DOF senior officials for their strong collaboration with the World Bank which has resulted in the bank’s largest program this year for the Philippines, amounting to about $3.1 billion.
Dominguez, in turn, thanked Kwakwa for leading the bank’s initiatives to enhance its engagement with, and strengthen its support, for the Philippines. – Angela Celis
