Galvez says vaccination numbers declining, only 5 to 6M doses to be administered in March

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Wednesday said vaccination numbers are declining, noting that only five to six million COVID-19 vaccine doses will possibly be administered this March.

In President Rodrigo Duterte's Talk to the People aired Wednesday morning, Galvez reported that there is a continuous decline in vaccination rate since November 2021.

“Nakita po natin noong unang mga panahon meron po tayong mga supply issue, sa ngayon naman po nakita po natin nagsisimula tayong magkaroon ng demand issue dahil gumaganda na po ang kalagayan ng Pilipinas meaning nagiging complacent yung mga kasamahan natin sa pagpapabakuna,” Galvez said.

(We saw in the early days that we had supply issues, but now we see that we are starting to have a demand issue because the situation in the Philippines is improving, meaning the public is becoming complacent in getting vaccinated.)

“Nakita natin (We have seen) since February our output decreased by more than 50% and this month we might only achieve five to six million doses administered,” he added.

Galvez said there is a continuous decline of daily vaccination output due to the low turn-out in the inoculation of booster shots despite a high percentage of vaccine willingness to 80%.

“We have to highly encourage our government workers and economic frontliners to get boosted. Second, mag-provide po tayo ng possible incentives for people with boosters. Lastly, maybe ang nire-recommend po ng ating mga business sector that boosters may be a requirement for travel and entering establishments,” he added.

(Second, let us provide possible incentives for people to get booster jabs. Lastly, our business sectors recommend that boosters may be a requirement for travel and entering establishments.)

The National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 chief implementer said a total of 139.06 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered while 64,660,228 Filipinos are now fully vaccinated.

He said the pediatric vaccination has a good turn-out with 8,766,899 fully vaccinated for 12 to 17 years old, and 1,233,017 first dose administered for five to 11 years old.

Meanwhile, Galvez said at least 1,400,889 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far which is 75% of the 1.8 million target in the fourth wave of the national vaccination drive.

Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje earlier said the Bayanihan, Bakunahan IV was extended in some local government units and regions.

The vaccination of senior citizens will, meanwhile, be extended until Friday.

Cabotaje said the regions with the lowest vaccination rates are the Bangsamoro Region and some provinces in Region XII.

Meanwhile, the Heath official said there may no longer be national vaccination days as the government shifts its focus on specific areas.

Meanwhile, the Philippine government has also failed to meet its target of vaccinating 1.8 million more Filipinos during the fourth wave of the "Bayanihan, Bakunahan" national vaccination drive.

Galvez said at least 1,400,889 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered which 75% of the 1.8 million target in the fourth wave of the national vaccination drive.

Alert Level 1 areas

NTF deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon said there were at least nine provinces and highly urbanized cities added in the list of areas under Alert Level 1 due to the result of the fourth wave of the national vaccination drive.

Dizon said among these provinces and cities were Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Batangas, Lucena City, Iloilo City, Cebu City, Ormoc City, Tacloban City, and Butuan City.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases has placed the National Capital Region and 47 other areas under Alert Level 1 from March 16 to March 31.

“Sila po ay pumasa na doon sa metrics natin sa fully vaccinated at pagbabakuna ng ating mga elderly. (They passed our metrics on fully vaccinated and vaccination of our elderly.) We have now a total of 64 cities and provinces throughout the country that are already at Alert Level 1,” Dizon said.

“We are trying to push all the other provinces and cities to really achieve these levels of vaccination so that they can also deescalate to Alert level 1 at the soonest possible time. Hopefully, within the month of March so that they can all help the economy move forward,” he added.

The government earlier said it is eyeing to fully vaccinate 77 million Filipinos against COVID-19 by the end of March, and 90 million by the time President Duterte steps down from office on June 30. — RSJ, GMA News