By Pearl Gumapos
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the 100,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine that arrived Friday night will be reserved for the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus 8, including some cities in the country.
“Because of sensitivity ng ating cold chain requirement, it will be given to NCR Plus 8. We will also be giving other cities, [for] example Baguio and areas that have cold chain solutions,” Galvez said shortly after the arrival of the vaccines at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.
The NCR Plus 8, which consists of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, Batangas, and Pampanga, has been prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccination rollout.
Galvez assured local government officials in areas with increasing COVID-19 cases that they will be given priority as ordered by President Duterte and Senator Go.
“We will prioritize. Our mayors and governors or those currently experiencing surges should not worry. The directive of our beloved president and Senator Bong Go is to prioritize them. We will help you, we will not leave you behind,” Galvez said.
The vaccines arrived in the country via Qatar Airways Flight QR928 at 11:00 p.m.
Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Marat Paulov said he is expecting more vaccines to arrive in the country this month but however could not disclose the exact number.
“We would like to increase the volume. I cannot disclose how many doses will arrive until the end of this month but I hope it will be a huge amount. We would like to help the Filipino people,” Paulov said.
As of June 11, the country has received more than 12 million vaccines: Sinovac from China, Sputnik V from Russia, AstraZeneca from the United Kingdom, and Pfizer from the United States. -rir
