The influx of vaccines in the country is expected with the arrival of another million doses of Sinovac and 2.2 million doses of Pfizer vaccines on June 10 to continue the government’s vaccination program.
After a million supplies of Sinovac’s CoronaVac from the government, this was purchased at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 yesterday.
Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said there will now be a steady supply of the vaccine with the arrival of an additional 1 million doses of CoronaVac and 2.2 million doses of Pfizer from COVAX.
Apart from these, another 2 million doses of AstraZeneca are expected over the next two weeks and also from the COVAX facility.
Galvez said most of the Sinovac arrivals would be distributed to provinces with high COVID-19 cases, such as Zamboanga and other areas in Region 6.
While the upcoming Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be distributed mostly in the National Capital Region.
Meanwhile, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez said the Sinovac vaccines would be distributed in high-risk areas or areas with a high number of COVID-19 cases.
1 million Sinovac; 2.2 million Pfizer vaccines coming on June 10
“Paglalagyan niyan ‘yong NCR (National Capital Region)… areas kagaya ng Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan at Region 6 (Western Visayas) na tumaas ang mga kaso,” said Galvez.
So far, 4 million have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines, while nearly 1.3 million have completed the two doses.
Meanwhile, Vice President Leni Robredo was concerned about the report that 9 percent or 113,000 people did not receive their second dose of the vaccine.
“Whether isang milyon ‘yon o 113,000, ang laki. Naghahabol tayo ng numbers, naghahabol tayo ng supply na hindi ma-expire, so dapat may sistema talaga para masiguro na babalik ‘yong mga tao,” said Robredo.
Experts warn of the importance of the second dose to have a high level of protection against the deadly COVID-19.
“Maraming pag-aaral ang nagsasabi na kapag unang dose lang at nagliwaliw ka na, napakataas ng tsansa ng severe disease. Kailangan ang dalawang dose ng bakuna,” said Philippine Red Cross consultant Dr. Michael Tee.
Visit our Facebook page for more news updates.