THE health department said close to 10 million people were vaccinated against Covid-19 during the extended “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” National Vaccination Days from November 29 to December 3, 2021.
The Department of Health said as of Saturday, December 4, 2021, a total of 9,937,827 individuals were vaccinated during the extended vaccination drive.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the five-day “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” was a “huge success” as it was able to meet its target to inoculate nine million people.
Vergeire said on the first three days of the vaccination drive, a total of 8.01 million people were vaccinated, short of around one million of the initial target.
With the extension, around 1.9 million individuals were added to the number.
The campaign was originally set on November 29 to December 1 but an extension of vaccination days was allowed until December 3.
A second leg of the National Vaccination Days has been set from December 15 to 17.
In Cebu City, 3,601 health workers, senior citizens and individuals with comorbidities have already been given booster shots during the National Vaccination Days.
Dr. Jeffrey Ibones, head of the Cebu City Health Department, said the number could be higher but they can confirm this only after collating data from all vaccination sites.
“We still cannot determine the total because we are still continuously encoding the data.” he said.
There are 90 vaccination sites in Cebu City but booster shots are being administered only in the fixed vaccination sites. The pop-up vaccination sites cater only to those getting the first or second dose.
Ibones said they are still doing an inventory to check if there are enough booster shots on Monday, December 6. If there are not enough booster shots, he said they will have to wait for additional vaccines from the National Government.
According to the National Covid-19 Vaccination Dashboard, as of December 3, the Philippines has already administered a total of 90,640,665 vaccine doses, 52,628,592 of which were for first dose, 37,568,088 were for second-dose and single-dose vaccines and 443,985 were for booster doses.
Vergeire also urged local government units to accept vaccinees even without prior registration.
“Kung saka-sakaling pupunta na ang ating mga kababayan sa vaccination sites sana po payagan na natin silang mabakunahan kahit hindi sila nakapag-register because we lose the opportunity if we still send them home (If a person goes to one of our vaccination sites, please allow them to get vaccinated even if they have not registered because we lose the opportunity if we still send them home),” she said.