THE National Task Force against the Coronavirus Disease (NTF COVID-19) yesterday assured local government units (LGUs), especially in the National Capital Region and nearby provinces, that they would receive additional vaccines 3.2 million doses vaccines are set to arrive today.
NTF chief and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said part of the 3.2 million doses is allotted for economic frontliners, or those belonging to the A4 priority group in the national vaccination drive.
The government kicked off the vaccination of the A4 group on June 7 but some LGUs said that they have yet to receive the supply for the economic frontliners and have even run out of vaccines for the first dose for those in A2 (elders) and A3 (with comorbidities) groups.
Galvez apologized to the LGUs for the delay in the arrival of the 3 million doses intended for the A4 group.
On the vaccines expected today, Galvez said a million doses will come from China’s Sinovac Biotech and 2.279 million doses from Pfizer BioNTech under the COVAX Facility.
Of the Pfizer vaccines, Cebu and Davao will get 210,600 doses each, and the rest will be for Metro Manila, Galvez said.
He said the Sinovac vaccines can be used for the A4 category while the Pfizer vaccines will be used on those under A2 and A3.
Former Antipolo City Mayor Jun Ynares, chief of staff of city Mayor Andeng Ynares, said there was disparity in vaccine distribution as some LGUs received more vaccines than the others even if the national government said those belonging to the “National Capital Region Plus eight (NCR+8)” bubble are prioritized in the vaccine distribution due to the high number of cases.
NCR+8 is composed of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Pampanga, Batangas, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.
Galvez said the government has distributed about half of the one million Sinovac from China that arrived last June 6 , to the NCR+8, and the other half to places in Visayas and Mindanao that have surges in COVID cases.
The Department of Health said a combination of speedy inoculation and supply shortage have forced vaccination sites to temporarily stop operations.
Napoleon Arevalo, director of the DOH Disease Prevention and Control Bureau, said the
DOH has received reports of temporary halting of inoculation in some areas.
“We have been seeing that they have been quick in their inoculation,” he said.
“We are experiencing this stoppage in vaccination due to the limited supply,” he added.
Galvez said the country is expecting at least seven million more doses this month, and will receive some vaccines donated by the United States government either this month or in July. The US is donating 7 million doses of vaccines to Southeast Asia.
He said the government expects a steady supply of vaccine deliveries starting this June with 11 million, 11.6 million in July, and 17 million in August. The country expects vaccine deliveries between 15 million to 20 million for every month after August.
The government aims to inoculate 50 million to 70 million people by the end of the year.
DOH data shows some 6.3 million doses have been administered as of June 8, since March 1 when the national vaccination program started.
Broken into different sectors, the healthcare workers (A1) received 2,298,607 doses; A2 got 2,038,153 doses; 1,942,302 doses for A3; and 35,486 doses for A4.
About 100 civilians and government troops in Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea were inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Pag-asa island is largest among nine areas occupied by Filipino troops in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are claiming in part or in while the chain islands, islets and other features in the West Philippine Sea. China has been aggressive in its claims over the past years.
Ariel Carlos, executive officer of Kalayaan town in Palawan whose seat of government is in Pag-asa Island, said the vaccines were first transported to Bataraza town from Puerto Princesa City. He said the transport took five hours.
From Bataraza, Carlos said, the vaccines were loaded on ML Seagull which sailed at around 9 p.m Saturday and arrived in Pag-asa Island around 10 a.m. Monday.
On Tuesday, 65 civilians and government troops were vaccinated. Yesterday, 35 others received the shots.
Carlos said Tuesday was the first time civilians and the government troops received vaccines.
“It (vaccination) is complete, there were only 100 vaccines available… We prioritized those who were willing to be vaccinated,” said Carlos.
Carlos said there are other civilians and soldiers in the island who have yet to be vaccinated but could not immediately give numbers.
Carlos said Pag-asa Island remained free of COVID-19 cases as of yesterday. — With Gerard Naval and Victor Reyes
