PASIG CITY (March 1, 2022) — The national government on Tuesday will implement the alert level 1 in the NCR, and at least 38 other areas in the country as COVID-19 cases continue to go down exactly a year after the government launched its vaccination program.

“Twelve months following the first vaccine shot, we are now lowering our level of restrictions to the minimum. This only proves that the vaccine works. We are thankful to all our kababayans for heeding to the government’s clarion call in practicing the minimum public health standards and for getting the jabs,” Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., the Chief Implementer and Vaccine Czar of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, said.

To recall, the country received its first vaccine shipment on Feb 28, 2021. Donated by the Chinese government, the COVID-19 jabs enabled the Philippines to roll out its vaccination drive the following day, March 1.

During the first few months of the Philippines’ vaccination program, the vaccines came in trickles due to the high global demand and limited supply. There were times when the country only received a couple of million vaccine doses a month.

“The key was to work closely with the medical experts, local government units, diplomatic corps, WHO and the private sector to maximize our limited inventory of vaccines. We ensured those in the medical field and the vulnerable sectors of society were given primary protection first,” he said.

The vaccination drive started to pick up by the fourth quarter of last year as bigger vaccines deliveries started to arrive in the country.

The steady shipment was a product of timely deliveries of the procured vaccines by the national and local governments, the private sector, and the international community through direct donations and under the COVAX Facility.

Focus and Expand 

As the momentum of the vaccination drive gained momentum, the government shifted into high gear and focused on the country’s key economic hubs in order to fast track the recovery of the country’s economy.

The strategy was then expanded to other areas and eventually covered all parts of the country –from the northernmost island province of Batanes, to the southernmost island province of Tawi-Tawi.

The NTF Chief Implementor said the country has a lot to be thankful for, especially now that the country has more than enough vaccine supplies in its inventory.

“So far, our country has received more than 225 million vaccine doses since February of last year. This is a testament of the national government’s aggressive efforts to secure safe and effective vaccines for all Filipinos despite the many challenges we faced,” Galvez said.

63 million Filipinos fully vaxxed

As of February 27, a total of 135,479,183 vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, of which 62,248,624 were given as the first shot, while 56,610,741 were administered as the second dose.

There are now 63,092,684 fully vaccinated Filipinos, who comprise 80.78% of the country’s target population and 56.55% of the nation’s total population.

“With more than 80% of our country’s target population now fully vaccinated, we are confident that we can achieve our goal of vaccinating 90 million Filipinos by the end of the second quarter, and administer at least 72.16 booster shots by the end of the year,” Galvez said.

And with Metro Manila and 38 other areas nationwide to be placed under Alert Level 1 by Tuesday, March 1, he congratulated local government units for the successful implementation of their Prevention, Detection, Isolation, Treatment, and Reintegration and Vaccination (PDITRV) Strategy.

“I commend our LGUs, as well as our partners in the private sector for successfully carrying out your COVID-19 response efforts, as well as your vaccination drive. Through your concerted efforts, the NCR and 38 other areas will be placed under the loosest restrictions,” Galvez said.

The vaccine czar said he wants the rest of the country to be placed under Alert Level 1 so that their economies can further open up and recover faster. But in order to achieve this, they must be able to meet certain criteria.

“For other areas that want to be placed under Alert Level, they have to vaccinate at least 80% of their senior citizens and 70% of their eligible population, as well be placed in the minimal to low-risk classification and have a COVID-19 bed utilization rate of less than 50%,” Galvez said.

“We should continue to build the wall of protection. We are calling our LGUs to ramp up our booster shots to sustain our protection against COVID-19,” he added.

As President Rodrigo Roa emphatically said, “kung mahal mo ang itong bayan at mahal mo ang iyong pamilya, magpabakuna na.”###