About 100,000 additional doses of Sputnik V vaccine from Russia arrived in the Philippines Friday night.
Qatar Airways Flight QR928 landed at NAIA Terminal 3 carrying the vaccines before 11 p.m.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. welcomed the shipment, along with Russian Ambassador Pavlov Marat and other officials.
According to Galvez, these vaccines will first be placed in the buffer stock and deployed where needed.
“Because of the sensitivity of our cold chain requirement, it will be given to NCR Plus. Magbibigay din tayo sa ibang area tulad ng Baguio City at ibang areas na may cold chain facilities,” he said.
But he assured that other places that ask for the vaccine will not be left behind.
Vaccines will be taken to the Pharmaserv Warehouse in Marikina City before being distributed to LGUs and health facilities in the coming days.
It will be recalled that 50,000 doses of the vaccine were previously delivered in May.
In total up to 180,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines have arrived in the country including previous deliveries.
Russian Ambassador Marat Pavlov assured that deliveries of Sputnik V to the Philippines will continue.
100,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccine arrive in PH
“I think we will like to increase the supply, but I cannot disclose yet how many will arrive this month. We like to help the Filipinos,” he said.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued emergency use authorizations (EUA) to 8 COVID-19 vaccines (in chronological order): Pfizer–BioNTech, Oxford–AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sputnik V, Janssen, Covaxin, Moderna, and Sinopharm. There are eight other vaccines on order for the program, at varying stages of development.
As of June 10, 2021, about 6,470,776 total vaccine doses have been administered throughout the country. 4,724,263 individuals have been vaccinated across the country, with 1,746,513 receiving the second dose.
Meanwhile, Malacañang announced Friday that fully vaccinated senior citizens in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ (MGCQ) are now allowed to go out.
“Subject ito sa mga kondisyon tulad ng pagdadala ng duly issued vaccination card at pagsunod sa minimum heath protocols,” he said.
(This is subject to condition like the bringing of the duly issued vaccination card and following minimum health protocols.)
Roque urged other senior citizens to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
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