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MANILA, Philippines – United States Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff announced on Monday, November 21, that the Biden administration will donate an additional $5 million to the Philippine government to speed up the Southeast Asian nation’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

Emhoff, husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris, made the announcement during a visit to a school in Caloocan that recently returned to full face-to-face day classes, two years since the pandemic disrupted the education sector.

“We need to keep fighting, we need to keep pushing forward in these updated vaccinations. We cannot let our guard down. Look at where we’ve come from, but remember where we were,” Emhoff said in a press conference following a program at the Gregoria de Jesus Elementary School and a meet-and-greet session with some of the pupils.

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Specific details of the additional funding have yet to be made available, but Emhoff said that Washington has, in total, committed $51 million to the Philippines’ COVID-19 response since the outbreak began in 2020.

The Department of Health (DOH) website puts the number of COVID-19 jabs administered at 165.5 million as of mid-November. Washington said its donated doses totaled more than 33 million.

The challenge now for local authorities is making sure that the jabs end up being administered to people’s arms, as reports from past months revealed that 20.7 million coronavirus jabs have been wasted due to numerous reasons – intended recipients not showing up, power outages, and vaccine contamination.

Also present during Monday morning’s program were acting Philippine health chief Maria Rosario Vergeire and Caloocan Mayor Along Malapitan, who participated in the ceremonial turnover of hygiene kit boxes donated by the US government.

“I have to humbly admit that addressing the pandemic has been a huge challenge for us, like the rest of the world. The education sector’s transition to blended learning… has been a difficult path. Several challenges arose, but our teachers and children persevered,” Malapitan said.

“Our experience in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that if the whole of society moves, we can achieve greater things,” Vergeire added.

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Harris and Emhoff are in a three-day trip to the Philippines that will culminate in a visit to Palawan island, which sits at the edge of the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea, where Beijing is claiming sovereignty over virtually all of the resources-rich waters.

Analysts believe that Harris’ visit to the Philippines – the highest ranking for a Biden administration official – signals a renewal of ties between the two long-time allies amid the growing influence of China in the Asia Pacific region.

In one of the earliest signs that the US is courting the Marcos administration, US President Joe Biden sent Emhoff to the Philippines to attend President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s inauguration on June 30. – Rappler.com