THE number of Filipinos who have completed the two-dose regimen for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines was expected to breach one million on Sunday, May 23, 2021, as inoculations accelerated in major urban centers nationwide.

The National Vaccine Operations Center reported that 949,939 individuals have received both the first and second doses as of Saturday, May 22, nearly three months since vaccinations started in the Philippines on March 1.

The total number of doses administered nationwide breached four million and the number of individuals who have received at least one dose surged past three million on Saturday.

Of the 4,097,425 doses administered since March 1, more than a fourth or 1,137,596 were administered in the past seven days to May 22.

The National Task Force Against Covid-19 reported that vaccinations went up by around 50 percent in just four days to an average of 162,513 on May 22 from 108,540 on May 18.

On May 21, the Philippines inoculated 237,984 individuals, the highest number of vaccine recipients since March 1.

This is almost half of the 500,000 doses a day target that vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. is aiming for.

“Hitting the four-million mark is a milestone in our national vaccination program. This brings us closer to our goal of achieving a daily vaccination rate of at least half a million and achieve herd immunity before yearend,” Galvez said in a statement Sunday.

He said he expected the number of vaccinated individuals to double in June, when Priority Groups A4 (essential workers) and A5 (indigent) become eligible to receive the vaccine.

At present, the government is inoculating Priority Groups A1 (health workers, mayors, governors), A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (persons with comorbidities).

Galvez, a retired military general who provided strategic direction in the fight against extremists during the Marawi siege, has likened major urban centers that are epidemic hotspots to what the military calls the centers of gravity.

By focusing on these urban centers first, Galvez said he aims to vaccinate 50 million to 70 million individuals and achieve herd immunity by the end of 2020.

Under this focus and expand strategy, which Galvez has presented to President Rodrigo Duterte, vaccination campaigns will focus on the National Capital Region, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga, Laguna, Batangas and Rizal.

These areas have a combined population estimated at 83 million. To achieve herd immunity in these areas, the aim is to vaccinate 58.68 million individuals, or 70 percent of the population.

Vaccination campaigns will expand to the other regions when herd immunity is achieved in the focus areas, Galvez said.

The Philippines has received a total of 8,279,05 doses as of May 20, consisting of 5.5 million doses of Sinovac (CoronaVac), 2.556 million of AstraZeneca, 193,050 doses of Pfizer and 30,000 doses of Sputnik V from Russia.

The AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines were donated through Covax while one million doses of the 5.5 million Sinovac doses were donated by China.

The rest was procured by the government. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)