The country's vaccine czar said the government will focus its vaccination drive in high-risk areas identified by medical and economic experts.
Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr., the chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, said the government, with the help of the private sector, will ramp up the vaccination campaign in "focus areas" within the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus (Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal), and in Pampanga, Batangas, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao.
"Ang gagawin po natin diyan i-a-allocate po natin ‘yong talagang magandang supply (We will allocate them a good supply of Covid-19 vaccine)," Galvez said during the Cabinet meeting in Malacañang on Thursday night.
Deploying Covid-19 vaccines in highly urbanized areas will allow them to expand their reach and eventually contain transmission.
"For example, if NCR Plus needs 3.3 million doses, then we willallocate that per month. In Davao and Cebu, they should get 400,000 a month so they can achieve herd immunity by November or by December," Galvez added.
He said the vaccination drive could be dramatically improved, once the local government units get a steady supply of the Covid-19 vaccines.
"We will do similar strategies in Region III, Region IV, Cagayan de Oro, Baguio City, and Zamboanga. We will also include areas with increasing cases such as Region II, Cordillera Administrative Region, and other areas that are so-called highly urbanized cities," he added.
"Once we achieve herd immunity, we can prevent and contain the contamination and infections," he added.
