Nearly three out of ten Filipinos do not have access to the COVID vaccination site, according to an SWS survey of 1,200 adult Filipinos from June 23 to 26. As a result, half of the respondents are slowing down vaccination progress against COVID in the country.
Explanation by vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr., the supply of COVID vaccine doses in the country was still low in June, so the open COVID vaccination sites are also limited.
The Philippines received only 9.1 million COVID vaccine doses for the month. However, it increased by 16.4 million doses in July.
And this August, more than 22 million COVID vaccine doses are expected to arrive in the country. This includes 365,040 Pfizer COVID vaccine doses coming Wednesday night. From this, Cebu and Davao will receive 51,480 doses each.
“Noong May, 4 million lang ang nakuha. Tapos, noong June, 9 million. So makikita natin, napakababa ng supply natin as compared to the demand,” said Galvez.
“Noong June, ‘yung ating average noon is 179,000 (doses administered) per day. And then noong July, 315,000. But ngayon doblado ‘yan,” he added.
1 in 3 Filipinos no access to vaccination site: survey
“Most likely, kung gagawin ang survey ngayong August, tataas tayo, dahil kasi napakalaki ng itinaas ng supply, almost doubled. At nakita natin, nagku-kumayod talaga ang ating LGUs, na talagang gumagawa sila ng strategies para puntahan ‘yung geographically isolated areas,” said Galvez.
He said that also in July, it was made a priority to bring to “geographically isolated areas” the single-dose COVID vaccine by Johnson and Johnson donated by the United States.
“Noong mag-deploy tayo ng 3 million (doses) na J and J, inuna natin ‘yung geographically isolated area. Sa Tawi-Tawi at island provinces,” he said.
Nevertheless, the National Task Force against COVID-19 calls on local governments to work out ways to bring vaccination sites closer to residents.
“We are continuously asking the LGUs na talagang magkaroon ng tinatawag na major access. So ang ginagawa nila, nag-eexpand sila ng vaccination site by areas or by zoning. Or mayroon silang ginagawa sa ibang lugar, gumagawa sila ng bus vaccination site… We are really asking LGUs to further explore ‘yung other means,” said Galvez.