Amid fears of a tropical storm, the Philippine government on Tuesday, Dec.14, announced the postponement of the second phase of its nationwide vaccination program in Regions 5 to 12 and in the Caraga Administrative Region and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the areas that will likely be affected.

Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said during his virtual presser that the vaccination program in the areas that are in the path of Tropical Storm Odette will be moved to Dec. 20 to 22.

“Sa mga lugar naman na hindi ko nabanggit ay tuloy pa rin po bukas hanggang December 17 ang inyong Bayanihan Bakunahan (For areas that I did not mention, the Bayanihan Bakunahan will push through tomorrow until December 17),” he pointed out.

The government is targeting to vaccinate seven million in the second phase of the national vaccination program. The first phase—from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1—reached its target of nine million only after extending the program for a few days in some provinces.

The Bayanihan Bakunahan will continue from Dec. 15 to 17 in the following areas: Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), National Capital Region (NCR), Regions 1, 2, 3, and 4-A (Calabarzon).

The nationwide vaccination program, however, has to be pushed to Dec. 20 to 22 in Region 4-B, Region 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Caraga, and BARMM.

READ: Duterte orders gov’t agencies, LGUs to prepare for incoming tropical storm

Nograles said the postponement will not affect the goal to vaccinate more Filipinos before the year ends.

“The target remains the same, iyong seven million na target po natin para sa (the seven million we are targeting for) Bayanihan Bakunahan,” he stressed.

This is so the affected provinces can concentrate on “any quick response” needed once the tropical depression passes through the areas.

“After that, we anticipate by December 20, 21, 22 ay magiging (it will be) all clear na po for the Bayanihan Bakunahan Phase 2 to be conducted,” he said.

Nograles did not specify the set targets per locality, but he only noted that the goal is to collectively reach the seven-million-mark for the second phase.

The Palace official also said they are confident that the target will be met.

“We are confident in not only in our LGUs (local government units) but also sa ating mga kababayan dahil lahat naman po tayo ay kailangan magtulungan para maabot natin itong (in our fellowmen because we need to help each other to reach this) 54 million target natin na (that are) fully vaccinated by end of 2021,” he added.

The tropical storm, which has an international name “Rai”, is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility by Tuesday night and make landfall in Eastern Visayas on Dec. 16.

READ: Signal No. 1 may be raised in eastern parts of Visayas, Mindanao Tuesday afternoon or evening — PAGASA

Once inside PAR, the domestic name “Odette” will be assigned to this storm.

According to the Department of Health’s (DOH) vaccination tracker, the country has so far administered 97,237,440 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine with 41,513,071 of them fully vaccinated.