The American vaccines Pfizer and Moderna may arrive in the Philippines next month, Philippine Ambassador to the United States (U.S.) Jose Manuel Romualdez said in an interview on Monday (April 12).
Romualdez explained that they are trying to negotiate with Moderna and Pfizer to export their vaccines to the Philippines by the middle or end of May.
However, an approval for the early export of the vaccines by the U.S. government is needed. Romualdez said that U.S. President Joe Biden targets to save 400 million doses of vaccine for his citizens.
He added that the U.S. government will also look into providing 2.4 million Pfizer vaccine doses from COVAX on an earlier date.
COVAX is a globally-pooled vaccine procurement and distribution facility co-led by the Gavi vaccine alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the World Health Organization.
The WHO said COVAX’s aim “is to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.”
Romualdez also said that the U.S. has been vaccinating close to four million individuals per day, aims to make the vaccine accessible to all Americans by April 19, and that by July 4, they will have achieved herd immunity.
Meanwhile, the ambassador explained that the vaccines will be easier to acquire in the months of June, July, and August, which are the original months that the vaccines are expected to arrive in the country, because the U.S. government’s requirements related to export will be completed by then.
Report from Naomi Tiburcio/NGS-jlo
