Malacañang said the government will strive to reach its self-imposed target of vaccinating 77 million adults against the coronavirus (COVID-19) before the much-awaited May 9, 2022 elections.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles made the announcement after the government revealed its new target to protect the voters who will participate in the polls from COVID-19.
In an interview with One PH's "One Balita Pilipinas" on Wednesday, January 19, Nograles said that the government will work hard to achieve the target number of vaccinations.
"Ito po yung aming isusulong talaga na marating natin iyon (We will strive to reach that target)," he said.
"If not by the end of the first quarter 2022, at least before the May elections na 77 million na target natin, kasama at kabilang na po doon ang adult population (we have reached our 77-million target and that includes the adult population)," he added.
The government had set a target of 54 million full vaccinations among the adult population by the end of 2021. The target was reached last week.
As of January 18, the government has administered 120,645,514 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
So far, a total of 56,027,759 Filipinos have been fully vaccinated while 5,362,518 have received their booster shots.
The Philippines is currently grappling with a surge of COVID-19 cases, possibly fueled by the more contagious Omicron variant. Over the past few days, the country had been registering at least 30,000 cases daily.
Meanwhile, the public is reminded to keep on following the minimum public health standards of proper mask-wearing, handwashing, and physical distancing.