More than 2 million AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines have arrived in the country from the World Health Organization’s COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, Friday afternoon.
1.5 million will be distributed to those injected with the first dose, while the remaining 500,000 will be allocated to priority areas in the country.
Because they are donated by COVAX, vaccines will be provided to senior citizens and those with comorbidity.
Vaccines will first be taken to a cold storage facility in Marikina before being deployed to various regions in the country.
“As we are looking to increase protection and coverage to A2 and A3, we urge the government to use it on A2 and A3. We urge the government to use the vaccines as quickly as possible,” said WHO Representative to the Philippines Rabindra Abeyasinghe.
In total, the country has received more than 7 million COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX, which is 1/3 of the total 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses that have arrived in the country.
More than 3 million Janssen vaccine doses donated by the United States are expected to arrive next week.
Also read: 2.4 million expiring AstraZeneca vaccines already injected
Additional 2 million AstraZeneca vaccines from COVAX arrive
It will be recalled that more than 1.1 million AstraZeneca doses donated by Japan arrived, which was welcomed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
The bulk will be distributed to the National Capital Region Plus 8 areas and used in all five priority sectors of the population.
More than 132,000 Sputnik V doses are scheduled to arrive at 10:30 pm Friday, including 50,000 component 2 doses for those injected with the first dose.
There will also be 37,800 component 1 doses coming Saturday night.
Meanwhile, according to a Department of Health official, transferring coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines to remote areas and vaccinating senior citizens remains a challenge today.
According to them, there are areas where it is really difficult to get the vaccine, such as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“‘Pag naglagay ka sa Sulu at Tawi-tawi, hindi regular ang flights. Even within the area, may peace and order conflict during that time so kelangan i-secure ‘yung bakuna, may mga brownouts. So we cannot give very large quantities of vaccines. Although we are working with our partners [on kung] ano pa ba ang puwedeng magawang strategies,” said DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje.
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