Christmas this year will be merrier for Filipinos as more vaccines arrive and the vaccination rollout gains steam, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said.

Año, who is vice chair of the National Task Force Against Covid-19, said the government sees a significant chunk of the population protected against the coronavirus before yearend.

“We’ll have a merrier/happier Christmas this year because we will be hitting the population protection level before the end of the year. That means at least half of our total population has been vaccinated. Almost all businesses are opened by then and almost all restrictions are eased (by then),” he said in a text message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Tuesday night.

As of June 13, a total of 6,948,549 doses have been administered, according to data from the Department of Health.

Of this number, 5,068,855 are first doses and 1,879,694 are second doses.

The total doses administered during the 15th week of the vaccination rollout reached 982,898 doses.

At the Department of the Interior and Local Government central office in Quezon City, Año said 1,300 doses of Sinovac vaccine were allotted for use by personnel who would get vaccinated on June 16-18.

Earlier, he said about 50,000 police and fire personnel would be deployed to provide support and security to the national vaccination rollout, which now includes persons under the A4 category or the economic front-liners.

The Philippines has received a total of 12,705,870 vaccines, both government-procured and donated, as of June 16. (PNA)