Malacañang announced on Wednesday morning (April 28) the postponement of the arrival of an initial 15,000 Sputnik V vaccine doses developed by Gamaleya Institute of Russia due to logistical challenges.
“We would like to inform the public that the expected arrival of 15,000 pilot run doses of Gamaleya’s Sputnik V tonight, April 28, has been postponed due to logistical challenges on the shipment of the vaccines,” National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito G. Galvez Jr. said in a statement.
“We will update the public as soon as we receive advice from Gamaleya regarding the final delivery date of the initial doses of Sputnik,” Galvez assured.
The initial delivery was also set to be followed by the shipment of 485,000 doses on April 29. The government has yet to announce when it will push through.
According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, the vaccine czar has been making approaches to make the first batch of deliveries possible by May 2021.
The two-dose Russian-developed vaccine requires a dark storage facility with -18 degrees Celsius temperature.
The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the application for its emergency use authorization (EUA) in the country last March 19. -AG-jlo
