By Pearl Gumapos
The first batch of government- and private-sector-procured Moderna vaccines arrived in the Philippines late last night (June 27) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
The shipment consists of 249,600 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
Vaccine czar Sec. Carlito G. Galvez Jr. was there to welcome the arrival of the vaccines, accompanied by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. Executive Vice President Christian Martin Gonzalez, U.S. Embassy in the Philippines Economic Counselor David Gamble Jr., officials of Zuellig Pharma, and Department of Health Undersecretary Carol Tanio.
According to the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF), 150,000 doses will be reserved for the government and the remaining 99,600 are for the private sector.
Galvez said the Philippines signed earlier this year a tripartite agreement with U.S. drug firm Moderna to secure 20 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccines which the Philippines will receive this year.
Pursuant to the agreement, the Philippine government shall secure 13 million doses while the private sector will procure 7 million doses.
The Philippines has five COVID-19 vaccines brands in its supply inventory: CoronaVac from China’s SinoVac, AstraZeneca from the UK, Sputnik V from Russia’s Gamaleya, Pfizer from the United States, and Moderna also from the US. – jlo
