WITH the delivery of more vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), more individuals are now getting their shots but the target of 70 million vaccinated Filipinos this year is still a long way off.
The National Vaccine Operations Center reported that the seven-day average of vaccinated individuals increased to 67,780 as of May 11 from 36,491 on May 4.
A total of 2,539,693 doses have been administered to 2,025,038 individuals, of whom 514,655 have also received their second dose, over the last two months.
The 2.025 million individuals who have received their first dose make up less than 3.0 percent of the 70 million target for this year while those who are fully vaccinated constitute less than 1.0 percent.
As of May 10, a total of 7,764,050 doses have been delivered to the Philippines.
More than half, or 4,264,050 doses, were delivered only from May 1 to 10.
The Philippines has received 5.0 million doses of CoronaVac from Sinovac, 2.556 million doses of AstraZeneca donated through Covax, 15,000 doses of Sputnik V procured from Gamaleya and 193,050 doses of Pfizer vaccine donated through Covax.
Of the 5.0 million doses of Sinovac vaccine, one million doses were donated by China. The rest were procured by the government.
As of May 11, the government has distributed 6,408,640 doses, or 83 percent of the total supplies, to 3,688 vaccination sites nationwide.
The biggest volume went to the National Capital Region (NCR), which is the epicenter of the Covid-19 epidemic in the country.
The report showed that NCR has received 2,495,970 doses as of May 11, of which 717,983 have been administered as first dose and 247,342 have been given as second dose.
Five regions took deliveries of more than 300,000 doses as of May 11: Central Luzon - 631,620; Calabarzon - 446,180; Central Visayas - 396,290; Western Visayas - 339,640; and Davao - 311,730.
Three regions received more than 200,000 doses, as follows: Ilocos - 238,080; Northern Mindanao - 226,680; and Eastern Visayas - 222,170.
The rest, except Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm), received more than 100,000 doses each. Barmm, on the other hand, has received only 65,600 doses.
The other regions and their deliveries are: Bicol - 192,340 doses; Soccsksargen - 169,420; Zamboanga Peninsula - 148,240; Caraga - 145,020; Cagayan Valley - 134,780; Cordillera - 123,280; and Mimaropa - 121,600.
The Department of Health (DOH) earlier said distribution of the vaccines would be based on the Covid-19 situation in each region.
The vaccines are being administered to the first three priority sectors, namely, A1 (health workers), A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (persons with comorbidities).
Under the government’s national deployment and vaccination plan, there are more than 1.76 million health workers, over 9.0 million senior citizens and around 14.5 million persons with comorbidities.
Inoculations began on March 1, 2021, a day after the first Sinovac shipment consisting of 600,000 doses arrived in the country. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)