By Ma. Teresa Montemayor | Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The government will donate Sputnik V and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to Asian and South African countries with low vaccination coverage and high number of infections, a health official said Tuesday (March 15).
In a televised public briefing, National Vaccination Operations Center Chief Myrna Cabotaje said they are identifying the exact number of doses to donate.
She added that the government may not be able to donate plenty of Sputnik V doses because the expiry date of those stocked in regional offices and rural health units has been extended to three months.
“We’re also looking at possible Moderna doses not because hindi ginagamit ang Moderna, marami tayong stock ng Moderna (we’re not using Moderna but because we have a lot in stock),” she said, but clarified that Moderna doses about to expire in two months would not be donated.
The NVOC earlier assured the public that the country has enough supply of different brands of COVID-19 vaccines both for primary series and booster shots.
The total number of donated doses in the country has reached 70 million — 30 million doses more than was initially allotted for the Philippines.
Cabotaje said the government received all the donated doses. Months after the COVID-19 vaccine was formulated, it was then difficult to secure a regular supply of vaccines. Sinovac was the first vaccine that arrived in the country in February 2021, donated by China.
“Sunod-sunod nang dumating nung November, December, January hindi lang ‘yung binili ng ating gobyerno kung hindi pati ‘yung binili ng ating local government units and private sector (The doses procured by the national government, local government units and private sector started coming in November, December, January),” she added.
Consequently, the public had vaccine brand preference with the continuous supply of varied life-saving shots in the past months.
Cabotaje said the downtrend in the number of cases made the public complacent about receiving booster shots or getting vaccinated, which could be one of the reasons for the low vaccination coverage and excess supply of jabs nearing expiry.
The Philippines has vaccinated over 70 percent of its target population against the coronavirus. To increase these numbers, the national government holds the fourth national vaccination drive, extended until March 18. (PNA)
-ag
