Phl seen to receive bulk of COVID-19 vaccine deliveries starting June this year
The government expects to receive the bulk of COVID-19 vaccine deliveries from June to August, which could speed up its mass vaccination campaign, the country’s vaccine czar said on Monday.
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President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks to the
people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging
Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the MalacaΓ±ang Golf (Malago)
Clubhouse in MalacaΓ±ang Park, Manila on April 19, 2021. KING RODRIGUEZ/
PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
“Aabot po ng 10 to 15 million na po ang darating mga by August na po ‘yon. So ‘yon ang prediction natin,” Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said in his report to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during a meeting in MalacaΓ±ang.
Galvez told the President that he has secured five contracts with different drugmakers and currently ironing out the financing schemes.
These include Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Novavax and Gamaleya Institute, he said, adding Johnson & Johnson already received an emergency use authorization (EUA) with its Janssen COVID-19 vaccine from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“‘Yong Sinovac, ito ang pinaka-steady supply natin at saka po ‘yong Gamaleya. Pagka nagkaroon na tayo ng initial delivery, magiging steady na,” he said, adding he expects Moderna and AstraZeneca to also make their vaccine deliveries soon.
For this quarter, the government is eyeing to receive two million doses of COVID-19 jabs. These include 500,000 vaccine doses from Sinovac, 20,000 doses from Gamaleya and 195,000 doses from Pfizer through the COVAX facility.
The 20,000 doses of Gamaleya Institute’s Sputnik V is a mini rollout as the Russian pharmaceutical company conducts testing in the Philippines.
Galvez also reported that once the bilateral agreements are completed, Pfizer could make an early delivery of 2.4 million doses in the second quarter.
“And then sa May mayroon tayong ini-expect na four million; two million po sa Sinovac. Ito nabayaran na po ‘to natin, mahal na President, ‘yong 3.5 million na 1.5 million sa April at saka two million sa May,” he told the President,
The Philippine government expects to sign a contract Tuesday with Gamaleya after ordering more or less one to two million doses from the Russian drug manufacturer.
Galvez added that he is also looking at 194,000 doses from Moderna.
The Philippines has recorded 1.2 million Filipinos already vaccinated against COVID-19.
Some 965,960 healthcare workers have received the first doses of the jab. There are 132,948 senior citizens and 180,315 persons with comorbidities who also received the shot. PND
