MANILA - The Philippine government is expecting at least 16 million more vaccine doses to arrive in the country by the second quarter of 2021.

Vaccine "czar" Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government is expecting 7,308,400 vaccine doses within May, and another 9,150,000 doses by June.

"So bago po matapos po ang buwan ng June, ine-expect po natin na mayroon na po tayo sa ating inventory na 20,514,000 doses," he said during the weekly briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte.

(Before the end of June, we expect to have in our inventory 20,514,000 vaccine doses.)

The country has received a total of 7,571,000 doses from different brands. Of this number, 4,009,880 have already been deployed to 3,410 vaccination sites nationwide.

Galvez also said the government will be adopting a "focus and expand" strategy which will focus on the "centers of gravity" in the country.

"Itong center of gravity po na ito, ito po 'yung tinatawag natin na economic centers at the same time ito po yung mga vulnerable areas," Galvez explained.

(The center of gravity, this are the economic centers and at the same time are vulnerable areas.)

"So pagka na-address po natin, na-strengthen natin ang ating vulnerabilities, at the same time we strengthen our economic strength. 'Yun po ang center of gravity po natin," he added.

(We will strengthen our vulnerabilities, and at the same time we will strengthen our economic strength.)

Among the "focus areas" are the National Capital Region, the nearby provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga, Laguna, Batangas and Rizal, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.

There are also four clusters of "expansion areas", grouped as follows:

Group 1: Region 3, Region 4, Cagayan de Oro, Baguio City and Zamboanga City

Group 2: Bacolod, Iloilo, General Santos City, Iligan, Region 7 and Region 11

Group 3: Region 10, Region 6, Region 8, Region 9, Region 2 and Cordillera Administrative Region

Group 4: Region 5, Region 1, Region 12 and Caraga (Region 13)

The focus area will be receiving a steady supply of vaccines, Galvez added.

Given this new strategy, the government now aims to inoculate at least 58,680,803 adults, or 70 percent of 83,829,719 adults.

This is lower than the initial target of 70 million, or two-thirds of its population this year.

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Galvez explained that this is only the initial target, which depends on the global vaccine supply.

"Ito po ginagawa po natin, dahil kasi ang nakita po natin, ang pinakamain variable po natin is 'yung ang ating global supply. Kung maganda ang ating global supply, wala pong problema. Ang inyo pong sinasabi na kailangan po nating bakunahan ang ating lahat ng ating mga mamamayan, babakunahan po natin until such time na hanggang children puwede po nating bakunahan," he said.

(What we're doing now is because of the main variable, which is the global vaccine supply. If we have a better global supply, then we won't have any problems. Then we can inoculate everyone, until such time that we can also vaccinate children.)

Galvez also said that the government aims to reach its target to inoculate between 58 million to 70 million by November 2021, and the total population of 110 million by the second quarter of 2022.

A total of 2,409,235 people have received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of Sunday.

The country now has a total of 1,108,826 COVID-19 cases, of which 59,897 are considered active cases.

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