ABOUT 1.26 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered by government since the national vaccination program was launched on March 1, data provided by the Department of Health showed.
From March 1 to April 13, the DOH said, 1,255,716 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, with 1,093,651 as first doses and 162,065 as second doses.
“The seven-day average of daily vaccinated individuals is 47,545,” said the DOH.
The rise in the number of administered vaccines is attributed mainly to the start of the administration of the second dose for healthcare workers, who belong to the Priority Group A1, in all regions, and the start of vaccinations for Priority Group A2 (senior citizens) in the Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Central Visayas regions, and in Metro Manila (National Capital Region).
The DOH also said vaccination for Priority Group A3 (people with comorbidities) has also began in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Central Visayas, Metro Manila, and Cordillera Administrative Region.
The country’s current vaccine stock is about 3 million doses from China’s Sinovac Biotech and the British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca Plc, which are both two-dose vaccines. More doses are expected this and the coming months.
The Philippines is aiming to procure some 148 million doses to vaccinate 50 million to 70 million Filipinos.
About 2.8 million doses have been deployed to the 2,988 government vaccination sites nationwide.
The highest number of doses were received by Metro Manila (1.2 million), Calabarzon (268,160), Central Luzon (190,700), and Central Visayas with 176,760.
Globally, according to the “Our World in Data” project of the University of Oxford, the Philippines is 42nd in terms of number of people vaccinated against COVID-19.
Aside from Indonesia, other Southeast Asian countries with higher rankings than the Philippines are Singapore at 36th (1.7 million) and Cambodia at 38th (1.4 million).
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said government is talking with four groups for the setting up vaccine manufacturing plants in the country. He did not say what groups.
The President once said Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute is considering putting up a plant in the country to hasten the production of the Sputnik V vaccine.
The government is also pursuing plans to start producing its own vaccine for future pandemics.
The DOH said immunocompromised individuals will need to present medical clearance before they are allowed to receive COVID-19 vaccines.
“Medical clearance is not required, except for immunocompromised individuals, such as those with autoimmune disease, HIV, cancer patients currently undergoing immunosuppressive therapy, transplant patients, those undergoing steroid treatment, and patients who are bedridden or with a poor prognosis,” according to DOH memorandum No. 2021-0175.
On the other hand, individuals, who are experiencing blood pressure (BP) of 180/120 or higher with signs and symptoms of organ damage during the screening process, cannot be vaccinated.
Other vaccine recipients with blood pressure not meeting the definition of hypertensive emergency may be vaccinated.
The DOH also listed down comorbid conditions qualified for vaccination under the A3 Priority Group.
Included are those with chronic respiratory disease and infection, such as asthma and respiratory allergies, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial lung diseases, cystic fibrosis, or pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, histoplasmosis, bronchiectasis; cardiovascular disease, such as hypertension coronary heart diseases, cardiomyopathies, peripheral artery disease, aortic diseases, rheumatic heart disease, congenital heart disease; chronic kidney disease; cerebrovascular diseases, such as stroke and transient ischemic attack; cancer of malignancy; and diabetes Mellitus Type 1 and Type 2. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
