The city government of Manila has vaccinated more than 70 percent of its target population, with over 760,000 fully protected against the coronavirus.

Citing data from the Manila Health Department, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, in a Facebook live update Monday, said the city has administered a total of 1,982,567 Covid-19 vaccine doses.

As of 6 p.m., a total of 1,253,874 persons have received the first dose while 767,500 have been fully vaccinated.

In determining the number of the target population, Domagoso said data from both the Commission on Election (Comelec) for Manila residents 18 years old and above and the Department of Health (DOH) were used.

If Comelec data would be used as basis, Domagoso said Manila’s target population to achieve population protection is 1,065,149.

Using DOH data, the target should be 1,351,487 persons of the city’s 1.9 million population, he added.

Domagoso said the number of vaccinated persons do not include the over 50,000 who received the shots through the help of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the city.

Since the city is also administering vaccination to non-Manila residents, Domagoso estimated that about 100,000 persons have received the life-saving shots.

“Sa Maynila, ang maganda, meron pa rin kami sa mall, meron pa rin kami sa schools, pero kalahati ng bakunahan natin nasa barangay na, ang tawag dun saturation drive. Then what will happen next, the last approach is, ‘yung bakuna magiging available na sa health centers (One advantage in Manila is we have vaccinations in malls and schools and half of the sites are now in the barangays — just like a saturation drive. The last approach would be, vaccines would be available in the health centers),” he said.

Once vaccines become available in health centers, Domagoso said house-to-house vaccination would be carried out. (PNA)