The Department of Health (DOH) said nearly one million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered during the first day of the second leg of the national vaccination drive.

DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said a total of 953,624 vaccine doses were given on Dec. 15. The figure accounts for 83.7 percent of the local government units (LGUs).

The concentration of the vaccination activities is in the National Capital Region (NCR), Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), she said.

On Tuesday, the DOH said that the conduct of the second national vaccination drive in 11 regions will be moved to Dec. 20 to 22 instead of Dec. 15 to 17 due to typhoon Odette.

These regions are: Bicol, Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, General Santos), Caraga, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

However, Cabotaje said that some of these regions decided to push through with the conduct of the vaccination campaign.

“May mga iba’t ibang rehiyon din tumuloy ng kanilang pagbabakuna (Some regions have continued their vaccinations),” she noted.

Cabotaje expressed optimism that they will reach their target of administering seven million vaccine doses for this event.

“Yes, we are confident na makakamit natin iyong ating seven million. Ipu-push lang iyong iba, iyong iba nga medyo nag-menor dahil sa typhoon (Yes, we are confident that we can achieve the seven million target. We just need to push the other that were affected by the typhoon),” she said.