The government is targeting to inoculate half of Metro Manila’s population during the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from Aug. 6 to 20, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Thursday.
The Palace official issued the statement during the ceremonial program to celebrate 10 million Filipinos being fully vaccinated at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.
“The national government has given Metro Manila 4 million additional jabs to administer during the ECQ,” Roque said.
“When this happens, we are close to reaching the point where the entire Metro Manila will achieve 50 percent fully-vaccinated population by the end of the ECQ,” he added.
At the same time, Malacañang said 10 million Filipinos had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, describing it as an “important milestone” in the country’s vaccination program.
Data presented by the National Task Force Against COVID-19 showed the number of fully vaccinated individuals stood at 10.28 million as of Wednesday.
Roque encouraged the public to get their COVID-19 jabs as soon as they can, stressing that it is the only way for Filipinos to continue earning a living.
“It is important that we continue vaccinations so that we can return to work, return to our families, and return to our normal lives,” he said.
Metro Manila will be placed under a two-week ECQ starting today to quell the spike in coronavirus cases driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant.
ECQ is the most restrictive of four quarantine classifications implemented by the government to slow down the coronavirus spread.
The vaccination efforts however will be exempted from the ban on large gatherings during the ECQ in Metro Manila.
The Philippines is aiming to achieve “population protection” against COVID-19 by inoculating 50 to 60 percent of the population with a concentration in Metro Manila, two other cities, and six provinces by yearend.
Meanwhile, the country’s vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the Philippines had set another record in its vaccination program as a total of 702,013 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered on Aug. 3, the highest daily throughput the country has recorded so far.
“We are very happy with this accomplishment. What we projected for the second quarter was just 500,000 jabs daily and the 700,000 mark was our goal for the fourth quarter,” Galvez said.
Galvez said because of the relentless efforts from the healthcare workers, local government units and the private sector, more doses have been administered as early as August.
“This is really a product of collaboration and cooperation among all sectors. Bayanihan at its finest.”
The latest figures were released following the submission of the updated vaccination records of various implementing units across the country.
“Our initial tally was just 673,652 but we received updated records from various regions on their output for Tuesday including NCR, which was able to administer 203,000 doses in a single day,” Galvez said.
Of the more than 700,000 doses administered, 233,065 were given as the first dose, while nearly half a million doses were dispensed as the second shot.
