Philippines tops 13 million COVID-19 vaccine doses given: DOH

Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News MANILA — The Philippines has administered some 13 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, the Department of Health said on Monday, more than four months since its inoculation drive kicked off. Of the total 13,196,282 vaccine doses administered, some 9.6 million first doses were first jabs, while around 3.5 million were second shots, said Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje. Authorities have said that those who have received their second shot of a 2-dose regimen vaccine brand are considered fully vaccinated. Around 96 percent of about 1.6 million health workers, the top priority in the country's immunization drive, have received at least one vaccine dose, Cabotaje said in a televised public briefing. Meanwhile, about 31 percent of 8 million target senior citizens, the second priority group, have received at least one COVID-19 shot, Cabotaje added. To encourage more elderly people to get vaccinated, authorities are hosting town hall meetings, setting up special lanes for them, and offering house-to-house inoculation, said the health official. The elderly and the third priority group- people with comorbidities - will be prioritized in the distribution of the single-dose J&J vaccine, Cabotaje said. The Philippines expects to receive on July 19 its first J&J vaccine batch, donated by the United States through vaccine-sharing COVAX Facility, she said. "One dose lang ito, so very convenient sa ating mga senior citizen at mga iba nating kababayan na nasa malalayong lugar," said Cabotaje. (This is just one dose, so it's very convenient for our senior citizens and our other compatriots in far-flung areas.) Authorities, she said, were in talks with the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and other partners to build a vaccine depot for the Bangsamoro region, which has among the lowest immunization coverage rates. The government would focus on the vaccination in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces because of their "porous borders" with Malaysia and Indonesia, which have detected the more infectious Delta COVID-19 variant, she said. With some 1.4 million coronavirus coronavirus infections, the second highest in Southeast Asia, the Philippines aims to vaccinate 58 to 70 million of its 109 population against COVID-19 to safely reopen the economy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more