Manila, Jun 2 (IANS): The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Wednesday 5,257 new Covid-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 1,240,716.

The death toll rose to 21,158 after 146 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.

The Philippines, which has more than 110 million population, has tested over 12 million people since the outbreak in January 2020, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Carlito Galvez, the chief implementer of the national action plan to combat Covid-19, said the inclusion of Sinovac in the emergency use listing (EUL) validated by the World Health Organization is a positive development, as the country continues to scale up the procurement of this vaccine.

"This is a major boost not just in our vaccine rollout and in our efforts to address vaccine hesitancy among many Filipinos, particularly our senior citizens," said Galvez in an online interview on Wednesday.

Philippine FDA approved the Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine for emergency use in February, paving the way for the delivery of the first batch of CoronaVac to the country, the first vaccine to reach the Philippines.

The Philippines has administered more than 5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines as of May 30, primarily to frontline healthcare workers, the elderly, and those with underlying medical conditions.

The country aims to vaccinate up to 70 million people this year, depending on the vaccine supply.