The government can sustain its vaccination strategies in critical surge areas and other high-risk provinces until population protection is achieved by December.

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force Against Covid-19, said there are 120 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines slated to be delivered until the end of this year.

He said the government will also maintain its “geographical approaches” in the vaccination program with the continuing arrival of more vaccines in the next four months.

“We can see that the surge areas and those critical or vulnerable areas will be fully protected by November. And then by December, we will follow on the other areas. So, the vaccine delivery will follow until December,” he said in a press briefing at a mall in San Mateo Rizal on Monday.

Over 13 million Filipinos nationwide are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, with nearly 17 million waiting for the second dose.

In the National Capital Region, the number of fully vaccinated individuals has reached 4,161,799, or 43.33 percent of the region’s eligible population.

The National Vaccination Operations Center said the country’s daily jab rate this month has been sustained at 475,532.

The government targets to inoculate 70 percent of the country’s total population.

Based on the 2020 Census of Population and Housing, the Philippines’ total population is at 109,035,343. (PNA)