A total of 469,200 doses of Moderna arrived in the Philippines today (Aug. 15) past 3:00 p.m. via Singapore Airlines flight SQ912 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 Bay 114.
Some 319,200 doses will be reserved for the government while 150,000 will be allotted for the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), which is a global port management company headquartered in Manila.
Around five million doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be arriving this week, vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a public briefing on Sunday (Aug. 15), while also thanking Moderna for allowing the country access to the vaccine.
As of today, 27 million doses have been administered with 15 million individuals receiving their first dose and 12 million having been fully vaccinated.
“Malaki na ang nabakunahan natin. We are estimating that we can achieve our objective of [fully] vaccinating 15 million Filipinos this month of August,” Galvez said.
In order to achieve the 600,000 to 700,000 jabs a day, the steady supply of vaccines must be the primary objective, Galvez said.
“We have negotiated with our suppliers like Moderna, Pfizer, and other manufacturers na kailangan naming magkaroon ng steady supply every month,” he said.
“This August and September, we will be having more or less 20 to 30 million doses. So, we expect 14 million more before the end of August. ‘Yon ang napagkasunduan namin with the manufacturers na at least we have a specific date of arrival,” he added.
-With report from Louisa Erispe/PG- jlo
