MANILA – About 500,000 doses or 25 percent of the additional 2 million AstraZeneca coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines delivered to the country will be distributed in the National Capital Region (NCR), a health official said Monday.

During an online media forum, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the government has decided where to allocate the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines which the country received through the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility on May 8.

“Nasa NCR Plus bubble ‘yung pinakamataas na alokasyon dahil alam natin ‘yung focus natin (The biggest allocation is in the NCR Plus bubble because it’s our focus) so that we can be able to have herd containment in this epicenter of this disease,” Vergeire said.

She added that other regions will also get an allocation of the remaining 1.5 million AstraZeneca jabs.

“We have Region 3, we have Region 4-A and then mayroon din tayo sa lahat ng regions natin bibigyan ng mga (we also have other regions an) allocation for these AstraZeneca vaccines,” she added.

Vergeire also confirmed that the government is ready to continue the rollout of the vaccines.

The administration of AstraZeneca vaccines for those under 60 years old was temporarily suspended in the country following reports of blood clot cases allegedly linked to its use in several countries.

The country has so far received over 7.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines of different brands, wherein 2 million doses have already been administered. (PNA)