By Pearl Gumapos and Ryan Lesigues
The 2,030,400 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the World Health Organization (WHO)-led COVAX facility arrived in the country today (May 8).
The donated vaccines were transported on Singapore Airlines commercial Flight SQ910 which landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 before 1:00 p.m.
This is currently the largest vaccine shipment received to date, followed by the 1.5 million doses from Sinovac Biotech of China which arrived on May 7. The products will be stored at the PharmaServ warehouse in Marikina City.
The vaccines will be allocated to the National Capital Region (NCR) and other areas with a high number of COVID-19 cases. They will also be used to cover the second dose inoculation of health workers who received their first jab last March.
The Philippines now has 7,540,600 total doses of COVID-19 vaccines, of which 3,525,600 are donations and 4,015,000 are government-procured. It may also receive two to three million COVID-19 vaccines in May, said vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. during a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on May 5.
“So ‘yon po ang magandang balita po, Mr. President, na this coming May, baka madagdagan po ng two to three million po ‘yong ating volume, na from four million baka po maging seven million po,” said Galvez, who is also the chief implementer of the National Task Force Against COVID-19.
The country is also set to receive 1.3 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this month.
Galvez added that the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines ordered by the private sector will arrive in the country in June.
Galvez assured the President that there will be no mishandling of the vaccine during its delivery in Davao and Cebu. He noted that freezers and refrigerators are now in place for the vaccines.
On May 7, the Department of Health (DOH) announced the official resumption of AstraZeneca vaccine rollout for all eligible populations, following the recommendation of medical experts and regulatory bodies.
On April 8, the use of AstraZeneca vaccine for individuals aged 59 and below was temporarily halted amid reported connection of the vaccine with the “very rare side effects” of blood clots with low blood platelets.
The DOH is urging the public to get vaccinated, and those who initially received it to get their second shot, noting that “the benefits of additional protection against COVID-19 could only be achieved by completing both doses of the vaccines.” – AG-jlo
