By Benjamin Pulta | Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Half of the more than 1.8 million doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines donated by the United States government through the COVAX Facility arrived Sunday (Oct. 10) afternoon at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, a boost to the government’s target to acquire a total of 100 million doses by the end of this month.
More than 14.2 million doses were delivered to the Philippines in the first week of October, with average daily arrivals hitting 1.5 million doses.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. was accompanied by US Embassy in Manila Chargé d’Affaires Heather Variava in welcoming the 918,450 doses which arrived via Emirates Flight EK 332 at about 4 p.m.
On Monday (Oct. 11), another 924,300 doses will arrive via the same flight and around the same time while the government-procured 272,610 doses are expected at about 9:20 p.m.
“We are very thankful that our 100 million target will be achieved considering that we have a faithful ally that really want to help us in this time of need. Again, on behalf of the Filipino people, we would like to thank the US government for its generosity and act of compassion in this time of pandemic,” Galvez said in a media interview.
Variava also reiterated the US government’s commitment to work with the Philippines in the vaccine rollout.
As of Oct. 8, more than 49 million doses have been administered and 23 million individuals are already fully vaccinated.
COVAX is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization, alongside the United Nations Children’s Fund.
The facility aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines and to guarantee equitable access for every country.
More efforts
Galvez urged local government units (LGUs) to be more creative and closely work with stakeholders to ramp up their rollout.
“Wala nang problema sa ating (No more problem with) supply. Ang (The) challenge now is throughput, administration, and demand. Kaya nananawagan tayo sa lahat ng LGUs kasama ang DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government), mayors, governors, military, at kapulisan, paghusayan natin ang pagbabakuna (We call on the LGUs, DILG, mayors, governors, military, and the police, let us implement the vaccination program well),” he said Saturday after the arrival of more than 1.3 million doses of Moderna jabs that raised the total doses received by the country to 85.5 million since the first shipment in February.
Galvez said LGUs should take the lead in initiating partnerships with different agencies, as well as the private sector, to get the Covid-19 jab into the arms of more people.
“Kung kailangan nila ng mga sasakyan (If they need vehicles) to transport people or health care workers to vaccination sites, they can request and tap the PNP (Philippine National Police) and AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines),” Galvez said. (PNA) – bny
