The government may start inoculating minors (persons aged 12-17 years old) and the general population by mid-October, with the expected arrival of additional 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines next month.
National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez made the statement, saying the government had 23.75 million doses of vaccines in stock, in addition to the 20 million doses expected to arrive by the first week of October.
“We are proposing to open the vaccination for children by mid-October, because we will be having an additional 20 million plus the 23 million (in stock), we can handle vaccinating 12 million people aged 12 to 17,” Galvez said.
Galvez also recommended that children with comorbidities and children of healthcare workers should be inoculated first.
On Wednesday, more than one million doses of Pfizer vaccines arrived in the country, the biggest single delivery of procured Pfizer vaccines delivered so far.
Dr. Teodoro Herbosa, NTF special adviser, said the latest Pfizer shipment will be deployed to local government units that have the capacity to store the vaccines using ultra-low storage freezers.
“It (Pfizer vaccines) will still go mostly outside Metro Manila, that means Region 4, Region 4-A, Region 7, and Region 11 in Davao,” Herbosa said.
He said that almost 70 percent of residents in Metro Manila are now fully vaccinated, while 98 percent have already received their first dose.
“Most of the newest doses are going to regions where the vaccination rates are lower, about 10 percent or less in some areas. We’re distributing the vaccines to those areas,” Herbosa said.
The country expects another batch of procured Pfizer vaccines consisting of 728,920 doses to arrive Thursday.
A total 65,882,680 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from various manufacturers have been delivered to the country since February.
In other developments:
* Interior Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Diño suggested requiring the wearing of vaccination cards outdoors. At the Laging Handa public briefing on Wednesday, Diño said he would propose the measure to the I-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
* The Bureau of Immigration is pushing for the vaccination of all its frontline personnel to protect both the BI personnel and the public. Commissioner Jaime Morente said 1,875 employees had been inoculated by both the agency’s vaccination drive, as well as through local government units. “This is a good sign that we have gone beyond the 50 percent mark in vaccinations. We are endeavoring to inoculate all our personnel, especially those assigned in the frontlines, as our way of protecting the transacting public from this virus,” said Morente.
* Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has ordered the City Health Department to vaccinate individuals residing and working in closed and long-term care facilities in the city. This after the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit recently submitted a report on 13 facilities it has visited and surveyed so far. The said facilities include orphanages, home care facilities, apostolate centers, and rehabilitation centers among others.
* Since the COVID-19 pandemic changed the dynamics of employment altogether, Senator Joel Villanueva called for the vaccination of all workers either by their employers or the government. “We should focus not only on jobs, but also on jabs,” Villanueva said. “But first, we should face our problems and deal with them squarely.”