By Christine Fabro
The Department of Health (DOH) reported that over seven million vaccine doses have arrived and been distributed among the country’s regions, with more arriving next month.
As of May 18, 2021, a total of 7,779,050 doses of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in the Philippines from different vaccine manufacturers, based on data released by the DOH in a Laging Handa public briefing on Wednesday (May 19).
At least 7,613,020 doses have been distributed to selected regions in accordance with a strategic plan formulated by the National Vaccine Operation Center (NVOC).
DOH Supply Chain Management Services Director Dr. Ariel Valencia said that all vaccine requests undergo assessments at NVOC, including the local government units’ (LGUs) capacity to handle the temperature storage requirements of each vaccine brand.
A total of five million doses of Sinovac vaccines have arrived in the Philippines, one million of which were donated while four million were procured from the Chinese vaccine manufacturer.
About 2,556,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines were also donated to the country, as well as 193,050 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Of the 30,000 procured Sputnik V vaccines, 15,000 doses of Component I were distributed to the National Capital Region (NCR).
Of the regions, NCR received the most vaccine doses at 2,729,530 (35.9%), while Central Luzon (Region III) got 723,620 (9.5%) doses.
At least 819,660 (10.8%) doses were distributed to Calabarzon, 266,880 (3.5%) to Ilocos Region, and 216,180 (2.8%) to Cagayan Valley.
Central Visayas, which received 449,090 (5.9%) doses, is the only region aside from NCR that received the Pfizer vaccine.
Eastern Visayas received 250,970 (3.3%) doses, Western Visayas 378,040 (5.0%), Bicol Region 214,080 (2.8%), and Cordillera Administrative Region 152,080 (2.0%).
Region IV-B has received the least number of vaccines at 150,200 (2.0%) doses.
The DOH said the deployment of vaccines comes after sending notifications to confirm from each of the receiving facilities whether they have the capacity to handle cold storage requirements.
According to Valencia, the DOH is accompanied by personnel from the Philippine National Police to ensure safety during the transport of vaccines. –jlo
