The Philippines' vaccination program against coronavirus disease has breached the eight million mark in the number of jabs administered, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and Vaccine Czar Carlito G. Galvez Jr. said on Sunday.

Citing the data from the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC), Galvez said that as of June 18, a total of 8,050,711 doses have been administered nationwide.

Of the total, 5,953,810 were given as the first dose, while 2,096,901 were administered as the second dose.

To date, 94.24 percent or 1,053,373 healthcare workers or A1 category have been inoculated.

Some 1,939,599 senior citizens or A2 category have received their first dose, while 536,476 have been fully vaccinated.

For persons with comorbidities or A3 category, 2,005,206 have been given their first jab, while 498,925 have received both shots.

For the economic front-liners or A4 category, 452,600 were administered their first dose, while 8,127 have been fully vaccinated since it started last June 7 in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus 8.

At least 23,826 indigent residents were given their first dose, as a number of local government units (LGUs) in the NCR started inoculating their A5 priority sector.

Galvez said the country recorded its highest daily vaccination rate of 322,929 jabs on June 15.

“There’s no letup in our vaccination campaign. All sectors of society are working together so that we can start to move on from this pandemic, bring back a greater sense to our lives, and further open up our economy,” Galvez said.

“Local government units and the private sector are playing a key role in this effort, as they ramp up the inoculation of their citizens and employees, respectively. They are really doing an amazing job and we would like to laud them for their hard work,” he added.

Galvez said they are now seeing an upward trajectory in vaccination throughput across all priority groups.

He said this is a very good indication that vaccine hesitancy is being addressed and more Filipinos, especially the senior citizens, are now willing to get inoculated.

“We are happy that the public uptake for Sinovac has also increased significantly. The steady supply of doses particularly of this brand, will enable us to fast track the inoculation of the A4 priority group, as well as provide much-needed vaccines to emerging hotspots across the country,” Galvez said.

The country now has 3,991 vaccination sites.

Since the rollout of the vaccination program in March, the NVOC has deployed 11,731,640 vaccine doses nationwide.

“We will sustain our momentum, as we expect a steady supply of vaccines in the coming weeks and months,” Galvez emphasized.

As of June 19, the country has received a total of 14,205,870 doses purchased by the government and private sector, as well as those donated by foreign governments.

These vaccine brands include Sinovac, Sputnik, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca. Ella Dionisio/DMS