More than 12.8 million Filipinos have so far received their complete vaccination against the coronavirus disease as the country's vaccine supply continued to increase.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said 29,127,240 doses of vaccines have been administered, including 16,250,043 getting the first jab and 12,877,197 with the second shot. The country's daily vaccination rate reached 445,824 as of August 18.
"Tara na po at magpabakuna. Puwede kayong magrehistro online o manual registration sa inyong LGU (local government unit). Libre po ang first and second doses (Let's get vaccinated. You can register online or get manual registration in your LGU. The first and second doses are free)," Roque said during a televised press briefing Thursday, August 19.
Of the vaccinated individuals, Roque said 0.23 percent reported untoward reaction after inoculation. He said these concerns are mostly mild and were immediately resolved. There was also no need for hospitalization of these individuals.
"Wala pong dahilan para matakot sa bakuna (There is no reason to fear the vaccines)," he said.
If a person does not feel any untoward reaction, Roque said it doesn't mean the vaccine is not working since bodies react different to the vaccines. He maintained that the country's vaccines are safe and effective after passing local drug regulatory authorities.
As the vaccination drive continues, Roque said additional vaccines have been delivered to the country. More than 360,000 doses of government-procured Pfizer vaccines arrived in the country Wednesday.
At least 3 million government-procured Sinovac vaccines will also be shipped to the country on Thursday. Another batch of 582,500 AstraZeneca vaccines bought by the private sector will arrive on August 20. China will also donate 739,200 Sinopharm jabs to the country on the same day.