Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Thursday that COVID-19 vaccines from Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute and Pfizer would arrive by next week.
During a news conference at Malacañang, Galvez said an initial 15,000 Sputnik V doses are expected to be delivered on April 25. The second batch of 480,000 doses would arrive on April 29, along with 500,000 Sinovac doses.
Galvez also said 195,000 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX Facility might arrive by the end of the month.
The Philippines expects to receive 1 to 2 million Sputnik V shots in May and 2 million in June, the vaccine czar added.
Galvez also hoped that an initial 194,000 doses of Moderna vaccine would arrive in May.
More than 1.3 million Filipinos have been vaccinated against COVID-19 during the government’s two-month vaccination program.
According to data released by the Department of Health (DOH), as of April 21, 1,562,563 vaccine doses have been given.
Pfizer, Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines to arrive by end-April: Galvez
Of that number, 1,353,107 received the first doses while 209,456 were given the second dose.
Up to 3,025,600 vaccines have arrived in the country and have been distributed to various local governments in the country.
According to the DOH, Sinovac’s supply is enough to give the second dose to those who have already been given the first dose. AstraZeneca’s supply is expected to arrive to give the second dose to those who were injected with the first dose.
Currently, less than 43,835 individuals are vaccinated per day. This is below the average of 47,545 on April 13th.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health announced Wednesday that it will train health care workers to identify the adverse effects that can be caused by the Johnson & Johnson company’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.
Janssen was recently granted emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Philippines. But this is conditional following a few cases of alleged blood clotting in patients who received Janssen in other countries.
According to experts, of the vaccines already used in the country, only minor adverse events have been recorded.
“Wala po pang nare-report na severe reaction, katulad ng blood clot, sa mga pagbabakuna. So, so far, that’s a good sign for all of us,” said cardiologist Dr. Richard Henry Tionco.