It may seem an ambitious goal for now but Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. expressed optimism Wednesday night, April 28, that the country can vaccinate at least half a million individuals per day beginning in the third quarter of 2021.
Galvez, vaccine czar and chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, said this can be achieved in the latter part of the year once the supply of COVID-19 vaccines gets ramped up with the arrival of the bulk of the government-procured jabs.
But as early as now, Galvez said the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has teamed up with big business establishments such as the Jollibee Foods Corp., McDonald's Philippines, and Ayala Healthcare Holdings, Inc. to conduct simulation exercises in anticipation of a true -blue mass vaccination.
"Nagtutulong-tulong po kami sa simulation para maniwala ang mga tao na kaya po natin ang 500,000 a day (We are helping each other in the simulation exercises to convince the people that we can 500,000 a day," he told President Duterte in a televised Cabinet meeting.
In Metro Manila alone, Galvez said local government units (LGUs) can inoculate 120,000 people per day if they secure 3.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in a month.
"By August, there will be an acceleration of 15 million to 20 million doses a month. If we achieve that volume, our target every week is two to three million . We can do 500,000 to one million every day," he said.
He said the government has already put up 5,000 vaccination centers across the country.
"'Yung isang vaccination kaya po 'yung 100,000 daily, kaya yung 500,000 daily, kaya po iyan (One vaccination center can administer 100,000 doses daily so the daily target of 500,000 is achievable)," he added.
The Department of Health (DOH) said that a total of 1,809,801 doses have already been administered in the country as of April 27. The vaccination program started on March 1.
Of these, 1,562,815 individuals received their first dose while 246,986 were inoculated with their second dose.
DOH data indicate that after 57 days, the government is vaccinating an average of 27,418 people daily or 191,925 persons weekly.