Gov’t kicks off 4th 'Bayanihan, Bakunahan’ with 1.8 million target

The Philippine government started on Thursday the fourth wave of the "Bayanihan, Bakunahan" national vaccination drive (NVD) to increase the country’s inoculation coverage against the COVID-19.

“So far, so good,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said when asked during the Laging Handa briefing on how the fourth round of the nationwide inoculation drive is going so far.

“Nandito kami ngayon sa Philippine Medical Association (PMA) at nag-umpisa ng vaccination para sa ating mamamayan, ito ang ating A2, ‘yung mga senior citizens, na mabigyan ng second dose at kasama diyan ang 12 to 17 pediatric age group for second dose. Booster doses naman para sa ating mga health workers and the economic frontliners. Sila ang bubuo ng 1.8 million na target,” he added.

(We are now here at the PMA and started the second dose vaccination of the A2 or senior citizens, and the 12 to 17 pediatric age group. Booster doses are given to our health workers and the economic frontliners. They comprise the 1.8 million target.)

At least 1.8 million Filipinos are targeted to receive the anti-COVID primary and booster doses during the Bayanihan, Bakunahan 4 which is set from March 10 to 12, 2022, Health Undersecretary and National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) chairperson Dr. Myrna Cabotaje earlier said.

Based on the Department of Health’s national COVID-19 vaccination dashboard, there are 63.9 million Filipinos who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of March 9, Wednesday. Of this number, 62.6 million have received one dose, while 10.6 million have received booster shots.

Duque said that this is about 71% of the country’s target population of 90 million.

He added that the government will also prioritize the inoculation in areas which still pose a low vaccination rate, primarily the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), along with Regions 7, 12, and 4-B.

On Tuesday, the government launched in Makati City its “Jabs in Job Sites” vaccination program in a bid to get more workers inoculated against COVID-19.—AOL, GMA News