The national government apparently failed to hit its goal of securing 22,726,060 vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for the month of August, data sourced by the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 showed.
From Aug. 1 to 31, the country received 18,039,890 doses from the procurement of the national government, local government units (LGUs), and private sector; global vaccine sharing initiative COVAX facility; and bilateral donations, according to official data from the NTF which were analyzed by the Manila Bulletin.
This was short by a total of 4,686,170 doses from the target set by the government on Aug. 3.
In August, there were a total of 19 vaccine deliveries made in the country.
These include the delivery of 13,524,790 procured jabs; 3,000,060 doses from the COVAX facility; and 1,515,040 doses from bilateral donations.
The missed target proved to be a big deal-breaker amid growing concerns among local government units (LGUs) outside Metro Manila for a hastened vaccine delivery so they can ramp up their inoculation program.
Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr., vaccine czar and chief implementer of the NTF Against COVID-19, said there will be 25 million doses coming in September and 29.5 million in October, majority of which will be allocated in provinces with surging cases.
"Bibigyang priority natin ang mga rehiyon kasi nakita natin mataas na ang vaccination rate sa Metro Manila. Ang ginawa natin, nagkaroon ng equitable distribution based on unvaccinated population (We will now prioritize the regions because we now have a high vaccination rate in Metro Manila. What we did was we had an equitable distribution based on unvaccinated population)," said Galvez in a virtual guesting at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay on Wednesday, Sept. 1.
Among the priorities are Calabarzon which covers Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon (Region 4A), Central Luzon (Region 3), Ilocos (Region 1), Western Visayas (Region 6), Central Visayas (Region 7), Soccsksargen which covers South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and General Santos City (Region 12), Davao (Region 11), and Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9).
By October, Galvez said they will propose that the national vaccination program be expanded to the general population and pediatric sector (children) from the current A1 to A5 priority sectors. The current priority sectors refer to frontline healthcare workers, senior citizens, persons with co-morbidities, economic frontliners, and indigent population.
"We believe by October mayroon na po tayong enough supply at magsa-saturate na po ang ating volumes kasi (we will have enough supply and the volumes will saturate because) the demand and supply already met. Kailangan mag-open up ng additional sector para hindi mag-saturate ang ating mga vaccines (We need to open up additional sector so our vaccines won't saturate)," he explained.
The country has received 51,900,590 doses so far. Of these, a total of 33,706,295 doses were administered as of Aug. 31.
There were 19,747,877 Filipinos who received their first dose and 13,958,418 who were fully vaccinated. The fully vaccinated individuals represent 18.10 percent of the target 77 million eligible population that the government aims to vaccinate before the end of 2021 so the country can achieve herd immunity.