MANILA — At least 4 million individuals in the Philippines have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Malacañang said on Thursday, as surveys revealed that more Filipinos are now willing to get inoculated, with concerns over the safety of vaccines easing.

Authorities have administered 14,074,514 doses of different COVID-19 vaccine brands since the rollout started last March 1, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in a press briefing.

Roque said a total of 4,047,792 individuals have so far received 2 doses and are now fully vaccinated.

The Philippines aims to vaccinate 58 to 70 million this year to safely reopen the economy, which last year suffered its worst postwar slump due to the coronavirus crisis.

Individuals who have completed their inoculation represent about 5 to 6 percent of the target, said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

"Mababa pa ang ating vaccination coverage," he said in a separate public briefing.

(Our vaccination coverage is still low.)

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The number of Filipinos willing to get inoculated against the coronavirus rose to 43 percent in June from just 16 percent in February, a Pulse Asia survey showed on Monday.

A separate poll released by the the Social Weather Stations on Wednesday found about 45 percent of adults were willing to get vaccinated.

President Rodrigo Duterte last month urged people to get inoculated and even threatened arrest of vaccine decliners or forcible injection of a drug used on pigs, after data indicated reluctance to be vaccinated or difficulties in making appointments.

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The Philippines has in recent years had difficulty in combating mistrust in government-issued vaccines over concern about a dengue vaccine.

But less than 1 percent of COVID vaccine recipients reported adverse side effects from vaccines, and most of these were mild, like body pain, the Food and Drug Administration said on Monday.

The Philippines has the second highest COVID-19 tally in Southeast Asia, with some 1.4 million coronavirus cases.

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— With reports from Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News; Reuters

Video courtesy of PTV