The Philippines has administered 144,781,087 doses of coronavirus vaccines, with 66,979,873 Filipinos already with the full primary series.

Of the total, only 12,687,684 have booster shots as of Tuesday.

The latest data of the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 also showed that 72,010,262 individuals, or 80.01 percent of the country’s target for population protection, have received at least one dose.

During President Rodrigo Duterte’s prerecorded “Talk to the People” aired late Monday night, NTF chief Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. acknowledged the country is still lagging in the administration of booster shots or third doses.

Among the pediatric age groups, 9,918,970 first doses have been given to the 12 to 17 bracket and 2,694,251 for 5 to 11.

“Maganda po ang coverage natin from 18 to 59 years old. Ito po ‘yung adult population at mayroon po tayong (We have a good vaccination coverage from 18 to 59 years old. This is the adult population and we have) more or less 94.28 percent (of the target), with 52 million already with the first dose,” Galvez said.

For the 60 years old above, Galvez said the country has already vaccinated 6,907,715 with at least one dose.

Vaccination in the Soccsksargen region is likewise improving, with 65.52 percent of its 4.07 million target population receiving the first dose and 58.55 percent or 2.38 million fully vaccinated.

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), however, has plateaued in the administration of jabs.

BARMM has the least number of vaccinees among 17 regions with only 27.28 percent of its 3.5 million target population are fully inoculated.

Special vaccination days in the region will be held after the May 9 elections. (PNA)