MANILA - The Philippines aims to vaccinate against COVID-19 some 100 million individuals or 80 percent of its eligible population, the Department of Health said Monday.

Government last year revised its inoculation target to at least 70 million and later on 50 million individuals by yearend.

• PH falls short of 2021 vaccination target

Authorities are considering a monthly nationwide vaccination drive or Bayanihan Bakunahan program to ramp up inoculation as Metro Manila and 38 other areas shift to Alert Level 1, the lowest in a 5-step system.

• Metro Manila, 38 other areas to shift to Alert Level 1 starting March 1 - Palace

"Mararating po natin ito pong ating targets in the coming months sa tulong ng ating local governments," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a televised briefing.

(We will reach our targets in the coming months with the help of local governments.)

The country has enough vaccine supply in the event it would be affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles.

Government is securing COVID-19 jabs for children ages 5 to 11, Nograles said.

"Right now we're confident we have enough vaccine supply. We're so confident na hihinkayat natin lahat ng puwedeng magpa-booster, magpa-booster na po," he said.

(We're so confident that we're encouraging everyone who's eligible to get their booster shots.)

The country has so far deployed 171 million vaccine doses and has stockpile in its warehouses, Vergeire said.

"Tungkol sa ibang medical technologies, ang kagandahan po ng nagkaroon ng omicron situation, nagkaroon ng negotiation and commitment, nagkaroon tayo ng stockpiling," she added.

(Regarding other medical technologies, what became of omicron situation is we had negotiations and commitments which led to stockpiling.)

The Philippines has so far fully vaccinated 63 million individuals, while 68.7 million others have received an initial dose, and 10 million booster shots have been administered as of Sunday, according to data gathered by the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group.

• Philippines now 'low risk' for COVID-19 cases due to wide vaccine coverage: DOH

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Video courtesy of PTV