The Philippines is aiming to inoculate nine million individuals during its three-day national vaccination drive, down from the initial 15-million target, officials said on Saturday.
The three-day vaccination drive, formally called the “Bayanihan Bakunahan” program, will take place from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1.
In a joint statement, the National Task Force (NTF)Against Covid-19 and the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) said there was a shortage in syringes and ancillary supplies, and other “logistical challenges.”
The shortage was due to a delayed shipment of syringes for Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
“From the original plan of administering 15 million Covid-19 doses for the three-day activity, we have decided to administer nine million jabs. Hence, the daily national throughput target will be three million doses,” the NTF and NVOC said.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said the national vaccination drive would help the country increase the number of jabs administered, to vaccinate more Filipinos before the Christmas season.
More than 35 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
The country has 17,052 active Covid-19 cases as of Nov. 27. John Ezekiel J. Hirro