Government picks up pace of vaccination

THE government’s coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination drive is beginning to pick up pace as more vaccine shipments arrive, the Department of Health (DoH) has reported. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Friday the sevenday moving average for vaccinations went up from 67,780 jabs on May 11 to 83,000 jabs on May 13, citing vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.’s report to President Rodrigo Duterte.

Vergeire said the DoH had set a new target for the seven-day daily average of 120,000 jabs per day.

With more vaccine doses coming in, the target can be achievable, she said.

To further ramp up vaccination efforts, the DoH will set up more vaccination centers, Vergeire said.

As of May 11, more than 2.5 million individuals have received Covid-19 shots. A little over 2 million received

the first dose, while 514,655 received the second dose.

In the National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila), 2.495 million doses were administered, followed by 631,620 in Central Luzon and 446,180 in Region 4A (Calabarzon).

Most of those vaccinated were frontline health care workers, senior citizens, people with comorbidities and frontline essential workers.

The country has been using four brands in its vaccination drive: CoronaVac (China), AstraZeneca (United Kingdom), Sputnik V (Russia) and Pfizer (United States).

No more screening of vital signs

Vergeire also said the screening of vital signs prior to vaccination will no longer be required.

The screening process is one reason for the long lines at inoculation centers, so the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group has decided to do away with it, she said.

The Philippine Society of Hypertension and Philippine Heart Association earlier said vital signs screening was not necessary unless the patient was in obvious distress.

Vergeire said only individuals with hypertension or with a blood pressure of 180/20 or with possible organ damage will be screened.

President Rodrigo Duterte, meanwhile, assured the public the vaccines would be immediately deployed as soon as they arrive in the country to avoid wastage due to expiration or spoilage.

Duterte made the assurance after Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso complained about the “super slow” deployment of vaccines.

“We will distribute the vaccines as fast as they come to our possession,” Duterte said during a recorded public address on Thursday night.

‘Steady supply’

The President said the government could now administer Covid-19 shots faster because it had been receiving a steady supply of vaccines.

The President said avoiding vaccine wastage was important because he did not want to lose the country’s fight against Covid-19 through negligence.

Concerns over wastage surfaced after it was revealed that 2 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses were due to expire in one to two months.

In the same meeting with the President, Galvez said demand for vaccines among local government units (LGUs) was increasing.

He attributed the rising demand to the growing public acceptance for vaccines.

He said the Philippines was set to receive 7 million vaccine doses this month and another 10 million doses by June.

The shipment includes at least 2.2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine from the Covax Facility this May and almost 2 million doses of AstraZeneca shots by June, also from the facility.

The government plans to inoculate 70 million adult Filipinos before the end of this year.

Galvez said the government would eventually start inoculating children and teenagers.

Countries like the United States and Canada have started to jab children aged 12 and older, he said.

Galvez also said the government signed a commitment with Pfizer for 40 million doses of its tozinameran vaccine.

He made the announcement during the launch of “Ingat Angat Bakuna Lahat,” a private sector campaign to boost vaccine uptake among Filipinos.

The vaccine, co-produced by the drugmaker in partnership with German biotechnology firm BioNTech SE, has been proven to be 95-percent effective against all

forms of Covid-19.

Tozinameran needs to be stored at -70 to -80 degrees Celsius, requiring specialized freezers.

The country received the first batch of 193,050 doses of tozinameran through the Covax Facility and expects to receive 2.2 million more doses by the end of the month, according to Galvez.

The country has already received 5 million doses of the Sinovac Biotech Ltd vaccine and 2 million doses of the Vaxzevria vaccine from AstraZeneca that were donated under the Covax Facility.

An initial 30,000 doses of Sputnik V from the Gamaleya Research Institute have been delivered, with an additional 300,000 doses due to arrive next week.

Following the imposition of a general community quarantine with heightened restrictions in Metro Manila and outlying provinces beginning today, some members of the House of Representatives want vaccination efforts ramped up to “make the eased lockdown work.”

BHW party-list Rep. Angelica Natasha Co, a member of the

House Committee on Health, suggested that jeepney and bus drivers, and railways and ports personnel be given priority in the inoculation program.

Co also called on local government officials and the Department of Labor and Employment to help implement stricter anti-Covid rules in workplaces.

Albay Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente “Joey” Sarte Salceda said government instructions in enforcing the new quarantine classification “must be clear and easy,” saying “other countries don’t come up with new ways to call their quarantine regime.”

“Compliance depends on whether the instruction is memorable. During emergencies, we can’t afford confusion, so we have to work on ways to make these changes more understandable to the public,” Salceda said.

He renewed his appeal to the public to take the jabs — whatever brand is within their reach — to help the government speed up the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines.