The country failed to maintain an average of 500,000 administered jabs daily in the last week of August due to lack of manpower, testing czar Vivencio “Vince” Dizon said on Wednesday.
In a Palace briefing, Dizon said the country’s vaccination efforts were hampered by a lack of vaccination personnel.
“Ang pinakamabigat pong hamon ay mga vaccinators at mga healthcare workers…dahil po ang mga vaccinators natin, ang mga doktor natin, mga nurse natin sa iba’t ibang vaccination centers sa buong bansa, sila din po ang kinakailangan nating mga healthcare workers na kailangang mag-alaga ng mga may sakit sa ospital,” Dizon said.
Health officials earlier said that the Philippines would reach daily vaccination numbers of 500,000 daily by end-August, but the vaccination rate plateaued in the last week of August.
Based on data from the National Task Force against Covid-19, only 2,710,232 doses were administered from Aug. 23 to 29, or 387,176 jabs daily.
According to Dizon, the Philippines administered 13.7 million Covid-19 vaccine doses in August, or roughly 420,000 jabs daily.
The Philippines aims to vaccinate 76.3 million Filipinos in 2021 to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19.
Dizon said the government was seeking the Commission on Higher Education’s approval to tap medical workers in its vaccination drive.
“Sinusubukan nating ma-harness ang mga estudyante sa medical schools – ang mga fourth year, iyong tinatawag nating medical clerks at mga interns natin or iyong mga fifth year,” he said.
The country has recorded 2,003,955 Covid-19 cases as of Sept. 1. John Ezekiel J. Hirro