The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines on Wednesday reported 1,202 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the national tally to 422,915.
The DOH said that 183 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 386,955, while the death toll rose to 8,215 with 31 new deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Philippines has been reporting less than 2,000 daily spike of COVID-19 cases since November 10.
The DOH said it has tested 5.22 million people for the coronavirus infection in the Philippines so far.
The Philippines has a population of about 110 million.
The Philippine government has a list of over 35 million Filipinos on the priority list to receive the COVID-19 vaccine once it is available, Carlito Galvez, the chief implementer of the Philippine national action plan to combat COVID-19, said on Wednesday.
Galvez said the Philippines aims to vaccinate around 60 million to 70 million Filipinos in three to five years.
"We will do this in a three to five year period because the government is capable of vaccinating more or less 20 to 30 million Filipinos a year," Galvez said in a virtual media briefing.
In the "best-case scenario," Galvez said the mass vaccination could kick off either by the second quarter or by the middle of 2021, but the "realistic" rollout for the mass COVID-19 vaccination is from the end of 2021 or early 2022.
To reach that goal, the Philippines is in talks with various vaccine manufacturers from different countries, he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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