The 487,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines were expected to arrive tomorrow evening, Senator Bong Go said on Wednesday.
The AstraZeneca vaccines were supposed to be delivered on Monday, but it was delayed due to limited supply.
“Yung hindi natuloy na pagpapadala ng bakuna nung Lunes mula sa Astrazeneca ay meron nang liham na darating na sana bukas ng gabi yung 487,200 doses,” Go said.
Senator Go added that he and Duterte will personally welcome the arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccines at Villamor airbase at 7:30 p.m.
The World Health Organization (WHO) representative to the Philippines said Tuesday that the delay in the arrival of AstraZeneca vaccines was due to logistics concerns, not supply problems.
This was contrary to the claims of vaccine czar Carlito Galvez and other government officials that the delay was due to supply issues.
WHO representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said one of the main challenges in the delivery process was the cold chain requirements and logistics handlers’ difficulty in ensuring large vaccine shipments worldwide.
AstraZeneca vaccines expected to arrive on Thursday – Bong Go
“My understanding is that the consignments are ready and just the logistics arrangements are being made so once we have a finalization and a confirmed itinerary for delivery we will share that information,” Abeyasinghe said in an interview on CNN Philippines.
British drugmaker AstraZeneca said their vaccine could only give limited protection against mild disease caused by the South African variant of COVID-19.
“In this small phase I/II trial, early data has shown limited efficacy against mild disease primarily due to the B.1.351 South African variant,” an AstraZeneca spokesman said in response to the FT report.
“However, we have not been able to properly ascertain its effect against severe disease and hospitalization given that subjects were predominantly young healthy adults.”
Domingo said that FDA is still waiting for data on the AstraZeneca vaccine’s efficacy against other new variants.
The FDA chief added the World Health Organization has yet to see any different indication of AstraZeneca’s diminished efficacy rate.