The Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the military and police units to airlift COVID-19 vaccines throughout the country’s provinces in order to bypass “gridlocks” in jab distribution.

Only about 35 per cent of adults in the country have received both jabs, compared with nearly 90 per cent of adults in the capital region.

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The Philippine president blames these “gridlocks” on the local authorities.

During his meeting with pandemic advisers on Tuesday, Duterte said, “(Supplies) will no longer pass through the provincial government because that would be another gridlock.”

Duterte has relied heavily on armed services to help combat the pandemic. Armed forces in the Philippines enforced one of the world’s toughest lockdowns and transported medical supplies all over the country and abroad. 

“Upon delivery by plane and arrival at the (vaccine operations centre), the helicopters there will take over. They would be the ones to take them to the municipal governments,” the president said.

“The armed forces have the lift capability,” military spokesman Colonel Ramon Zagala said on Wednesday.

According to Francisco Duque, the country’s health secretary, cases of Coronavirus are on the decline throughout the country.

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In October, as part of easing pandemic restrictions, the government opened cinemas and gyms in the capital and allowed larger seating capacities in restaurants and on public transportation.

12.7 million young people between the ages of 12-17 received vaccines on Wednesday.

(With inputs from agencies)