The country clinched the fourth spot in the global rankings of nations with the highest daily vaccination rate, the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 confirmed on Friday, Dec. 3.
The feat was achieved during the first day of the National Vaccination Days last Nov. 29 where around 2.7 million doses were administered nationwide.
The list was topped by China with a daily jab rate of 22 million doses based on the global monitoring website Our World in Data. Rounding up the top three were India with 10 million doses and the United States with 3.4 million jabs. Meanwhile, Brazil seized the fifth spot with 2.6 million doses.
“Kung dati ay libo-libo lang ang ating nababakunahan sa isang araw, ngayon ay nagawa na natin itong paabutin ng halos tatlong milyon kada araw. Ito ay dahil sa ating pagbabayanihan at pagkakaisa (Before, we could only vaccinate thousands in one day but now we have attained nearly three million vaccinations in a day. This is because of our ‘bayanihan’ and unity),” said vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.
Held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, the country administered a total of 7,628,432 doses during the “Bayanihan Bakunahan” immunization drive. A second leg of the massive inoculation program will be held from Dec. 15 to 17.
In total, the government administered 2,713,731 doses on November 29; 2,466,728 doses on Nov. 30; and 2,447,973 doses on Dec. 1, according to a consolidated data from the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC).
This was short by some 1.4 million doses as the government originally targeted to inoculate nine million Filipinos during the three-day vaccination program.
Still, Galvez said that the event was successful since the goal of vaccinating 54 million Filipinos with at least one dose by the end of November was achieved.
As of December 1, a total of 55,415,753 individuals have been partially vaccinated, representing 71.84 percent of the target eligible population of 77 million Filipinos. Meanwhile, a total of 36,869,419 individuals have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The government aims to fully vaccinate 77 million Filipinos by the end of 2021 to attain herd immunity or population protection.
“Our new milestone is a testament of the strength and efficiency of our national vaccination program,” Galvez said.
Among the 17 regions in the country, Metro Manila recorded the highest vaccination coverage, having administered at least one dose to 112.16 percent of its target population.
Six other regions have vaccinated with at least one dose to more than 70 percent of their target population. These include the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region (Region 1), Cagayan Valley (Region 2), Central Luzon (Region 3), Calabarzon (Region 4A), and Northern Mindanao (Region 10).
The government expects that these regions will be able to fully vaccinate their target populations before the end of the year.