The country’s performance with regards to its rollout of the vaccines against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been “creditable and commendable.”
World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe made the assessment on Monday, May 24, as the country breached the 4 million-mark in the number of vaccine doses administered.
The WHO official pointed out that the country has faced challenges in accessing the vaccines for its nationwide inoculation program.
“Given that, the performance has been very creditable and commendable. We are encouraged by what we are seeing,” he said in a public briefing.
“We recognize that there have been a few lapses, but those are not systemic lapses but individuals violating the clear protocols that have been adopted by the National Vaccine Operations Center and the government,” he added.
The National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 reported that the Philippines as administered 4,097,425 doses of coronavirus vaccines as of May 22.
Of the number, the NTF said 3,147,486 have received their first dose while 949,939 Filipinos have been fully vaccinated after receiving their second dose.
“Overall we are very encouraged by the vaccine rollout,” Abeyasinghe said.
He also called for stricter compliance of the protocols at local government levels to minimize incidents of violations at vaccination sites.