The Philippines received today (August 2) more than 400,000 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the United Kingdom government.
The 415,040 doses are part of the nine million doses donated by the UK to different countries.
Five million doses of the said donation are allocated to the COVAX Facility to ensure equitable distribution, especially to low-income countries. The remaining four million will be directly given to countries in need.
The UK earlier pledged to donate 100 million doses by June 2022, of which 80 million will be given to COVAX.
“So 415,040 shots is a direct donation, government-to- government. But in parallel, of course, there have been donations through the COVAX facility, which are running in several millions now. And also, of course, the tripartite agreement,” UK Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce said.
The shipment was received by National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., United Kingdom Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce, Department of Foreign Affairs Office of European Affairs Assistant Secretary Jaime Ledda, and AstraZeneca Country President Ramin Lotis.
“I think this is actually a symbol of the very strong and enhanced partnership that we have with the United Kingdom,” Ledda said.
Galvez has already thanked the British government for the donation, saying that it will support the ongoing vaccine rollout for vulnerable sectors.
The Philippines has administered a total of 20,863,544 doses as of August 1. – Report from Rod Lagusad/AG-rir
