MANILA— Three medical experts from Israel will arrive in the Philippines in two weeks to share best practices on their vaccination program against the spread of COVID-19.

“This coming June 20 darating po ang tatlong eksperto ng Israel para turuan tayo kung paano ang maayos at masusing pag-vaccinate sa kanilang mamamayan,” vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said Saturday.

(This coming June 20 three experts from Israel will arrive to teach us how they were able to execute their vaccination drive well.)

• Vaccination nation: Lessons from Israel’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Galvez, in an interview on TeleRadyo, said the medical experts from Israel’s Ministry of Health will teach Filipino health workers how to deploy and handle sensitive vaccines like those from Pfizer and Moderna.

“'Yung mga experts na ito magtuturo ng kanilang kaalaman para makabalik sa new normal ang buhay natin,” he said.

(These experts will teach us how to go back to a new normal.)

Last March 25, Israel announced that it had administered two doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than half its 9.3 million population. With its successful vaccine rollout, Israel has slowly reopened its economy after three lockdowns.

• No more Green Pass: Israel to end COVID-19 restrictions after vaccine succes

“Nakita natin ang Israel po talagang sa ngayon hindi na nagma-mask so kukunin po natin ang mga ganyang lessons po sa kanila,” he said.

(We saw how Israel was able to move away from using face masks so we will get those lessons from them.)

As of June 2, the Philippines has fully vaccinated 1,293,750 million people or 2.23 percent of its total population, according to data sourced from government and compiled by the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group.

The Philippines is targeting to inoculate at least 58 percent to 78 percent of its population before the year ends as more vaccines are expected to arrive in the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2021, Galvez said.

“Pangako natin we will have a better Christmas this year. Target namin mabakunahan ng at least first dose at saka second dose na 58 percent to 78 percent. Napakataas na hangarin 'yan para sa atin pero maraming mga eksperto nagsasabi na kaya natin ito basta meron tayong volume at enough vaccinator and also enough vaccination sites,” he said.

(We promise that we will have a better Christmas this year. We target to vaccinate at least with the first and second dose 58 percent to 78 percent. That’s a high target for us but experts say we can do it as long as there is volume, enough vaccinators, and vaccination sites.)

Galvez said an estimated 10.9 million doses of vaccines will be arriving this month starting with 1 million doses of Sinovac on Sunday and another 1 million doses of the same vaccine on June 10, he said.

Some 2.2 million doses of Pfizer vaccines from the COVAX facility will be arriving on June 10 and 11 and about 2 million more from AstraZeneca are set to arrive mid-June.

He said the government is also expecting the arrival of 1 million doses of Sputnik V as well as vaccines ordered by the private sector and local government units.

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