The Philippines has reached another milestone in its coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic response as it breached four million doses of administered vaccines, the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 announced Sunday, May 23.

A total of 4,097,425 doses were injected as of May 22, data from the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) showed as shared by Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., vaccine czar and chief implementer of the NTF Against COVID-19.

Of these, a total of 3,147,486 doses were used as first dose while 949,939 doses were administered for second dose. This represented 1.9 percent of the total 108.77 million population who got vaccinated, Galvez added.

The milestone was reached nearly three months since the free immunization program started on March 1.

"Hitting the four million mark is a milestone in our National Vaccination Program. This brings us closer to our goal of achieving a daily vaccination rate of at least half a million and achieve herd immunity before yearend," Galvez said.

Meanwhile, the daily vaccination rate (seven-day average) also rose to 162,514 doses from 60,000 to 70,000 last month. In the past seven days, the government has administered over 1.1 million doses.

NTF spokesperson Restituto Padilla Jr., a retired military general, disclosed in a radio interview that the country has made another record-high daily vaccination tally last May 21 with 237,984 vaccine doses administered in a single day. It broke the previous record of 229,769 administered doses on May 20.

"We need to maintain this momentum and remain focused on building up our vaccine supply, ramping up our vaccination rate, and encouraging more of our countrymen to get the jab. This will be the key in saving more lives, putting an end to this pandemic, and revitalizing our economy," Galvez noted.

According to international COVID-19 monitoring trackers Bloomberg, Our World in Data, and other foreign service posts, the Philippines is now ranked second among 10 countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) that have started vaccinating its population.

It is tailing the leading country, Indonesia, with over 24.72 million doses administered. Following the Philippines were Cambodia at third place with 3.67 million doses; Singapore at fourth place with 3.41 million doses; and Myanmar at fifth place with 2.99 million doses.

Completing the top 10 ASEAN countries are Thailand with 2.81 million doses; Malaysia with 2.30 million doses; Vietnam with 1.03 million; Laos with 729,000; and Brunei with 25,000.

The Philippines also placed 13th out of 47 countries in Asia, and 37th out of 196 countries globally in terms of vaccine rollout, Galvez said while citing a Bloomberg report.

"I am confident that as we start inoculating our economic frontliners (A4) and indigenous population (A5) by June, we will be able to double this figure and vaccinate more than four million people as long there is a steady supply of vaccines," Galvez said.

At present, the government is prioritizing the inoculation of A1 to A3 sectors which include frontline healthcare workers, senior citizens, and people with co-morbidities.

As to the updates on vaccine deliveries, the government is anticipating the arrival of 2.2 million doses of Pfizer vaccines from the COVAX facility and 1.3 million doses of Sputnik V vaccines from Gamaleya Research Institute of Russia by the end of May.

In June, there are an estimated 10.05 million doses that will be arriving including the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines ordered by the private sector, and the Sinovac and Sputnik V vaccines that were procured by the government.