President Rodrigo Duterte raised the possibility that the vaccination of the general population against the coronavirus might proceed in October, once the country gets a “stable” supply of the coronavirus jabs.
“I’d like the people to know that we are studying the possibility of vaccinating the general adult population as early as October if there is a stable vaccine supply,” Duterte said in his prerecorded Talk to the People delivered Monday night but aired Tuesday morning.
In the event that the government lifts the priority restrictions next month, adult Filipinos can go to vaccination sites near them to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, Duterte said.
Amid the plan to start the inoculation of the general adult population by October, Duterte said the government should give poor Filipinos priority access for Covid-19 vaccination.
Duterte said the poor should be given priority, considering that they are the most affected by the prevailing pandemic.
Duterte also suggested that it would be “nice” if the government brings the Covid-19 vaccination to the slum areas.
He said giving poor Filipinos easy access to vaccines would convince them that the coronavirus jab is “available” and “good for them.”
The government has so far prioritized the inoculation of medical front-liners, senior citizens, individuals with comorbidities, economic front-liners, and indigent people.
As of Sept. 12, the Philippines has administered 38,746,501 vaccine doses. The National Task Force Against Covid-19 vaccination dashboard data showed that 21,951,956 have received the first shot while 16,794,545 have completed two doses.
The average daily jabs administered in the last seven days stood at 415,362 doses.
NTF Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlo Galvez Jr. said the country is expecting the delivery of over 30 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine in October.*PNA
