(CNN Philippines) — The government is aiming to vaccinate up to 70 million Filipinos by the end of the year, hoping to achieve herd immunity to protect the population against rising coronavirus cases and even faster-spreading strains.
To keep track of these goals, CNN Philippines lists the government's schedule of delivery and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines for the year, as laid down by vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.
February 28 - arrival of 600,000 Sinovac doses donated by China
March 1 - vaccination drive for medical frontliners kicks off
March 4 - arrival of 487,200 AstraZeneca doses donated via COVAX facility
March 7 - arrival of 38,400 AstraZeneca doses donated via COVAX facility
March 24 - arrival of 400,000 Sinovac doses donated by China
March 24 to 26 - expected arrival of 979,200 AstraZeneca doses donated via COVAX facility (delayed)
March 29 - arrival of 1 million purchased Sinovac doses
March 29 - Metro Manila LGUs start vaccination of senior citizens
March 31 - Metro Manila LGUs start vaccination of adults with comorbidities
Expected total vaccine supply by end of March: 3,504,800 total doses
Total doses that arrived in the country: 2,525,600
Vaccinated Filipinos as of March 23: 508,332
April
April 11 - arrival of 500,000 purchased Sinovac doses
April 22 - arrival of 500,000 purchased Sinovac doses
April 25 - expected arrival of 15,000 Sputnik V doses from Russia's Gamaleya (further pushed back to April 28, then May 1)
April 29 - arrival of 500,000 purchased Sinovac doses
Total doses that arrived in the country: 4,025,600
Target number to be vaccinated: 500,000 to 1 million Filipinos per week
Vaccinated Filipinos as of April 29: 1,562,815 (first dose), 246,986 (second dose)
Percentage of the population fully vaccinated: 0.35% of 70 million Filipinos
May
May 1 - arrival of 15,000 purchased Sputnik V doses
May 1 - vaccine drive for minimum wage workers and overseas Filipino workers start
May 7 - arrival of purchased 1.5 million out of 2 million Sinovac doses promised this month
May 8 - arrival of 2,030,400 AstraZeneca doses via COVAX
May 10 - arrival of 193,050 Pfizer doses via COVAX
May 12 - arrival of 15,000 purchased Sputnik V doses
May 20 - arrival of the remaining 500,000 purchased Sinovac doses for this month
May 30 - arrival of 50,000 purchased Sputnik V doses
expected arrival of 2.2 million Pfizer doses via COVAX within the month (pushed to June 10)
Expected total vaccine supply by end of May: 11,779,050
Total doses that arrived in the country: 8,329,050
Target number to be vaccinated: 1 million to 2 million Filipinos per week
Vaccinated Filipinos as of May 30: 3,974,350 (first dose), 1,206,371 (second dose)
Percentage of the population fully vaccinated: 1.72% of 70 million Filipinos
June
June 6 - arrival of 1 million purchased Sinovac doses
June 7 - vaccine drive for essential workers start
June 10 - arrival of 1 million purchased Sinovac doses and 2,279,160 COVAX-donated Pfizer doses
June 11 - arrival of 100,000 purchased Sinovac doses
expected arrival of 250,000 doses from United States' Moderna within the month
expected total shipment for the month:
- 4.5 million Sinovac doses
- 2 million Sputnik V doses
- 2 million AstraZeneca doses
Expected doses by end of June: 21,829,050
Total doses that arrived in the country as of June 13: 12,708,210
Target number to be vaccinated: 2 million to 3 million Filipinos per week
Vaccinated Filipinos as of June 13: 5,014,582 (first dose), 1,855,472 (second dose)
Percentage of the population fully vaccinated as of June 13: 2.6% of 70 million Filipinos
July
- 3 million Sinovac doses
- 4 million Sputnik V doses
- 1 million Moderna doses
- 2 million Novavax doses
- 1.5 million Johnson & Johnson doses
- 2 million AstraZeneca doses
Target number to be vaccinated: 2 million to 3 million Filipinos per week
August
- 20 million total vaccine doses (brand not yet specified)
September
- 20 million total vaccine doses (brand not yet specified)
October
- 20 million total vaccine doses (brand not yet specified)
November
- 20 million total vaccine doses (brand not yet specified)
December
- 20 million total vaccine doses (brand not yet specified)
Total vaccine supply by end of 2021: 140.5 million doses
So far, there are seven manufacturers that have already gotten regulatory approval in the country: Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Gamaleya, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Bharat Biotech. But the government has only signed supply agreements with Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Gamaleya, Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax.
As of June, the Philippines has been vaccinating up to 150,000 doses daily, according to Galvez. He said the government hopes to ramp this up to 500,000 to 700,000 doses per day by the fourth quarter. Health experts have been recommending that the country must have an average of 590,000 daily inoculations to achieve herd immunity among 70 million Filipinos by yearend.
The government is also prioritizing areas with high COVID-19 cases which are Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Pampanga, Batangas, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao — collectively known as the NCR+8 — to achieve herd immunity by November.
The country can even achieve herd immunity by September or October if cities can increase their vaccination pace to a daily rate of 8,000 to 10,000 shots, Galvez added.
Meanwhile, vaccination for the A5 or indigent citizens may start in different localities in addition to existing priority groups if current supply purchased by the government or donated via COVAX is enough, the Health Department said in a briefing.
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