The military successfully transported the COVID-19 vaccines allocated for the medical frontliners in the province of Tawi-Tawi on Thursday, March 11, 2021.
The vaccines were transported onboard a Fokker plane of the Philippine Air Force.
Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi Commander Brig. Gen. Arturo Rojas together with 2nd Marine Brigade Commander Col. Nestor Narag, Jr., Interagency Task Force Tawi-Tawi officials headed by Provincial Administrator Mobin Gampal, and Dr. Sangkula Laja of the Integrated Provincial Health Office received the 1st batch of COVID-19 vaccines at the Sanga-Sanga Airport in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.
“The vaccines are delicate and should be administered within five days to achieve optimum potency so we must ensure its on-time and safe transport,” said Brig. Gen. Rojas.
The 1st batch of vaccines includes 101 doses of AstraZeneca and 1, 212 of Sinovac vaccines.
Col. Dennis Estrella, the Wing Commander of the Tactical Operations Wing-Western Mindanao, personally handed over the vaccines to the rightful beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, prior to its flight to Tawi-Tawi, the PAF aircraft also transported 208 doses of AstraZeneca and 2,360 of Sinovac vaccines to Sulu earlier on the same day.
The said vaccines which are intended for the medical frontliners were received by the officers of the Integrated Provincial Health Office-Sulu.
The officers of the IPHO thanked the Ministry of Health-BARMM and Western Mindanao Command for facilitating the transport of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Philippine government.
“As a member of the IATF for COVID-19, the Western Mindanao Command and all of its Joint Task Forces are always ready to assist and provide support to ensure the successful execution of the immunization campaign in our area of operation,” said Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, Jr., Commander of the Western Mindanao Command. (Press Release)
