Three million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed to the National Capital Region (NCR) which will be administered starting this week, a government official said Monday.

National Task Force Against COVID-19 deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon told a Palace news conference that the vaccine doses were released by the Department of Health (DOH).

"Nakapag-release na po ang DOH ng tatlong milyong bakuna simula noong nakaraang linggo [The DOH has released three million vaccine doses since last week]," he said

"Ito ay mababakuna na po simula ngayong linggo [These will be used starting this week]," Dizon added.

The government is ramping up vaccination efforts as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, particularly the highly contagious Delta variant, which has been detected in 13 out of the 17 regions in the country.

Malacanang earlier announced that Metro Manila would receive an additional four million doses during the two-week enhanced community quarantine, which began on August 6.

DOH data showed that cases in Metro Manila grew by 123% during the past two weeks compared to the previous three to four weeks.

The capital region's average daily attack rate stood at 12.70 cases per 100,000 population while its healthcare utilization was at 54.11% and ICU occupancy was at 59.04%. --KBK, GMA News