Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. is confident that, as many vaccines are expected to come this month and next, the vaccination of teachers in the country will be completed by the end of August.
“Just in case talagang magkakaroon tayo ng open face-to-face sa ating education, kailangan po ‘yung lahat ng teachers ay mabakunahan po. Iyon po ang aming commitment kay Secretary (Leonor Briones), na before end of August, ‘yung mga teachers po ay mabakunahan po natin,” said Galvez.
Galvez added that a large volume of the vaccine would come from China, as 7.5 million doses of Sinovac are expected to be shipped this July and an additional 8.4 million in August.
There are also about 3 million doses of Johnson & Johnson coming this month.
According to Galvez, more than 562,000 doses of Pfizer will arrive on July 19 and an additional 500,000 doses on August 2.
There are also expected 4 million doses from the COVAX facility, and 1.17 million doses of AstraZeneca and 1 million doses of Moderna will also arrive, which will be purchased by the private sector.
Because of this, Galvez hopes to be able to vaccinate 300,000 to 400,000 people per day.
Therefore, apart from teachers, many others from the security sector and other government agencies will be vaccinated immediately, Galvez said.
Gov’t targets to vaccinate all teachers by end-August
He said the following could be included in the list of those who can be vaccinated:
- Armed Forces of the Philippines
- Philippine National Police
- Philippine Coast Guard
- Bureau of Fire Protection
- National Bureau of Investigation
- Commission on Higher Education
- Department of Education
- Department of Transportation
- Department of Labor and Employment
- Department of Agrarian Reform
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Foreign Affairs
- Department of Tourism
- Bureau of Immigration
- Overseas Filipino workers
- Seafarers
“All in all po ‘yung ating government employees na makakasama po as frontliners, ‘yung 1.8 million, kasama po ang OFW at seafarers na 2.2 million na nagto-total po na 4 million po lahat,” said Galvez.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III is confident that the government’s vaccination target is being met.
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