What to expect once COVID vaccines are rolled out

This article was updated to reflect the correct information that the Philippines is the most-hit country by COVID-19 in the WHO’s Western Pacific Region as of March 19, not Southeast Asia as originally stated. We apologize for the mistake.

(UPDATED) Herd immunity ー the indirect protection from an infectious disease among the population ー is the goal that most governments, including the Philippines, hope to achieve in one to two years’ time through vaccination against COVID-19.

Convincing 70 million adults out of the 110 million Filipinos to accept the novel vaccines, however, is among the many hurdles in the COVID-19 immunization program.

The Philippines, most hit by the pandemic in the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization as of March 19, rolled out the first jabs from Sinovac BioTech on March 1 in different government hospitals.

About 600,000 doses of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccines, donated by the Chinese government, arrived at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City on Feb. 28. (See A show of trust: Philippine public health officials receive first jabs of Sinovac vaccine – Vera Files)

Find out in this last episode what to expect as soon as the COVID-19 vaccination begins in your area.

Watch Part 1 and Part 2 of the series.

ERRATUM: This article was updated to reflect the correct information that the Philippines is the most-hit country by COVID-19 in the WHO’s Western Pacific Region as of March 19, not Southeast Asia as originally stated. We apologize for the mistake.