MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) targets to complete the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine rollout program by 2023.
“That’s why we indicated in our plan for this vaccine deployment program that it’s going to be until 2023 so that we have that wide margin if in case the delivery will not be on time,” DOH undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
According to Vergeire, the government is eyeing to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases in the country by 2022, earlier than the target date.
A total of 117,000 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech jabs are expected to arrive on Saturday and the vaccination program is set to start on Feb. 15 with health workers as first recipients.
Meanwhile, Vice President Leni Robredo described the health department’s plan as “alarming” saying that government should strive better for fast recovery of the economy.
“Nakakapag-alala ‘yon kasi as of now, ang daming naghihirap na mga Pilipino, ang dami nang nawalan ng trabaho, so dapat ‘yong goal natin the faster na mabakunahan ang mas maraming tao. Para mas mabilis na makaka-recover ‘yong economy natin,” Robredo said.
As of now, the country aims to vaccinate up to 70 million people against COVID-19 this year to achieve herd immunity./PN
