Senator Richard Gordon on Thursday lamented it could take about five years to meet the target population ratio to achieve herd immunity.
“With the last 7-day average of daily vaccinated individuals at 43,835, it will take 4.8 years – almost 5 years – until 2026 to complete the 70 percent vaccination or 77 million Filipinos,” said Gordon, who is also the chairman of the Philippine Red Cross.
We need to get more vaccines and more people vaccinated,” he added.
Health expert Dr. Tony Leachon, for his part, said the government should not be complacent about already having vaccinated more than one million people.
In an interview with GMA News, Leachon said vaccinations must be expedited as more COVID-19 vaccine doses arrive in the next few months.
“If the government is saying we will vaccinate 70 [million] Pinoys this year, that means we need to administer 140 million doses. As of today, only 1.2 million have been given so we are at less than of our target, with 8.5 months to go,” he said.
“That is what we should highlight, not the 1 million doses so the government will not be complacent and happy with the big numbers. There should be some urgency given to this matter. We have enough vaccines on stock now and more are coming each week,” Leachon added.
