Although the Philippines' vaccination drive vs COVID-19 stalled due to Typhoon ''Odette'', the Department of Health (DOH) will use the single-dose Janseen to meet its goal of 54 million fully inoculated individuals by end of 2021.

''We are looking at using all the 9 million (Janssen vaccines) that arrived to reach our goal of 54 million (fully vaccinated individuals by yearend,'' said Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje at the ''Laging Handa'' virtual public briefing Tuesday.

''With some difficulty ( we will reach the goal), but we are still optimistic on meeting the 54 million at the end of this year,'' added Cabotaje, chairperson of the National Vaccination Operation Center (NVOC).

DOH data says fully vaccinated individuals are at 44.2 million while those who got the first dose number at 56.2 million.

The 54 million goal represents around 70 percent of Filipinos vaccinatd against COVID-19.

In the ongoing National COVID-19 Vaccination Days, Cabotaje said they have inoculated 3,760,132 since December 15. Majority of the 3.7 million are those that got their second doses, at around 2.1 million. DMS