The government targets to vaccinate five million individuals during the third round of “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” this week, National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) co-lead Dr. Kezia Lorraine Rosario said.
She said the two-day mass inoculation drive would be held on Feb. 10 and 11.
She said preparations were going on “so we cannot say yet how many have registered.”
The government, she said, is looking into designating more vaccination sites, especially in industrial parks, universities, and schools to reach more Filipinos.
“We will give many vaccines, especially booster doses,” she said.
The first two rounds of the national vaccination drive happened in December last year.
For February alone, Rosario said the government hoped to vaccinate more than 25 million individuals.
As of Feb 4, the country had administered a total of 128,473,507 vaccines.
Around 59.80 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated while 60.65 million individuals have received their first dose. A total of 8,012,011 booster shots have been administered.
Meanwhile, the NVOC is mulling the nationwide rollout of pediatric COVID-19 vaccination for the 5 to 11 age group on February 14.
The planned Valentine’s Day activity will be held a week after Monday’s initial rollout in six vaccination sites in the National Capital Region.
Rosario said the pilot run would be expanded to 32 more vaccination centers in NCR – hospitals, malls, gymnasiums, and schools. Each pilot site can cater to 500 vaccinees daily.
Five hospitals in Central Luzon, three in Calabarzon, and one in Cotabato City will also begin their 5-11 age group vaccination next week.
“In this pilot run, we will study how to effectively implement it, operationally. So we are also looking at where it should be implemented—should it be in hospitals or should we include schools and other vaccination sites,” Rosario said.