The first batch of 1,606,600 single-shot Janssen anti-COVID- vaccine doses donated by the United States government arrived in the country today (July 16).
The donation of vaccines made by American pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will be followed by another shipment of additional 1,606,600 doses on July 17.
The National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 said the delivery today through the COVAX Facility raised the total vaccines received by the country since February to 24,788,110.
“We can say that’s really a game changer, considering that it is a one-shot vaccine and its efficacy is very high,” NTF chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez said.
Galvez said the doses will be allocated to senior citizens and persons with comorbidity in accordance with vaccine prioritization guidelines.
The vaccine arrival was witnessed by Galvez, Department of Health (DOH) officials, US Embassy in the Philippines Chargé d’ Affaires John Law, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Acting Mission Director Sean Callahan.
Representatives of the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO) were also present.
Currently, the Philippines has six COVID-19 vaccines brands in its supply inventory, which include CoronaVac from China’s Sinovac, AstraZeneca from the UK, Sputnik V from Russia’s Gamaleya, and the US made Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J vaccines. Around 16 million vaccine doses are expected to be delivered into the country this month.
Meanwhile, the highest number of jabs per day was recorded on July 16 at 391,283 doses. – Report from Daniel Manalastas/AG-rir
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