As the Philippines on Sunday received additional COVID-19 vaccines donated by the COVAX Facility, the Department of Health (DOH), World Health Organization (WHO), and UNICEF continued to urge local government units to prioritize vaccination of senior citizens.
The 2 million Pfizer vaccines are part of the 10 million doses which were co-procured by the US Government with the COVAX Facility. The latest arrival brings the country’s total doses to 64.3 million, with 15.5 million from the COVAX Facility.
“While the national government recalibrates its strategies in addressing the rising COVID-19 cases to a more targeted scheme, the local government units must also ramp up their COVID-19 vaccination, especially to the elderly population who are most at-risk for severe COVID-19 and even dying from it. We also thank the COVAX Facility for the additional supply of much-needed COVID-19 vaccines,” said Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III.
The Philippines has administered 41,247,552 doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of September 18 with at least 4,261,633 fully-vaccinated senior citizens over 8 million masterlisted.
“With the country receiving the additional doses from the COVAX Facility, the Philippines has adequate vaccines to fully protect the elderly citizens or A2 priority group. We call for our local chief executives and regional health authorities to urgently complete the full vaccination of all the elderly and reduce further the loss of lives to the pandemic. This is the most ethical and rational use of vaccines, especially now that COVID-19 cases have been rising in many regions with low coverage of senior citizens. Any further delay in the vaccination of our elderly will cost us more lives, and lead to an overwhelming of the health system in affected regions and further harm to the economy,” said World Health Organization Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe.
The COVAX Facility — co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO), together with UNICEF — aims to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines, and guarantee fair and equitable access to these vaccines even with the scarce global supply.
With the call to maximize the benefits of available vaccines by prioritizing the vulnerable population, DOH, WHO, and UNICEF also urged the public, even the fully-vaccinated individuals, to continue wearing face masks, practicing proper hand hygiene, physical distancing, and ensuring ventilation whenever indoors.
WHO: facebook.com/whophilippines
UNICEF: facebook.com/unicefphilippines
About COVAX
COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization (WHO) – working in partnership with UNICEF as key implementing partner, as well as civil society organizations, vaccine manufacturers, the World Bank, and others.
Media contacts
DOH
Lindsay Orsolino, Communications Management Unit - Department of Health, lmorsolino@doh.gov.ph, +639063812403
WHO Philippines
Jun Ryan Orbina, Communication Officer for Immunization, WHO Philippines, orbinaj@who.int, +63906 438 6312
Rocel Ann Junio, Communication Officer,
WHO Philippines, junior@who.int, +63928 501 2064
UNICEF Philippines
Niko Wieland, Chief of Communication, UNICEF Philippines, nmwieland@unicef.org, +63 917 867 8366
Marge Francia, Communication Officer, UNICEF
Philippines, mfrancia@unicef.org, +63917 858 9447