Northern Mindanao this Wednesday received its first batch of Sputnik V, the vaccine against COVID-19 made in Russia.
About 1,500 doses of Sputnik V vaccines and 9,600 doses of Sinovac vaccines landed at Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental this Wednesday morning.
Sputnik V vaccines are part of the 50,000 doses that arrived in the Philippines on Sunday night, which according to the Department of Health (DOH), will be distributed to “NCR Plus 8” and other areas in the country that have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases.
NCR Plus 8 includes Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, and Rizal.
Vaccines will be taken to hospitals and local government units, where Sputnik V doses will be allocated for health workers who have not been vaccinated.
In Northern Mindanao, vaccination was also started last week in the A3 priority group, or those with comorbidity or disease.
According to the latest records of the regional health office, more than 138,000 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Northern Mindanao.
Sputnik V vaccines arrive in Northern Mindanao
The 50,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines from Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute arrived on Sunday, May 30, 2021, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 onboard Qatar Airways Flight QR928.
According to the Department of Health, the efficacy of Sputnik V against symptomatic COVID-19 is 91.6 percent, while it can prevent moderate and severe cases from 100 percent.
However, the vaccine could not be given to 17-year-olds and under, FDA director-general Eric Domingo said earlier.
“[Sputnik V, AstraZeneca] and also Pfizer [are safe for senior citizens]… Pfizer is for 16 and above, AstraZeneca is for 18, and above, and Sputnik is for 18 and above,” said FDA chief Eric Domingo at a press briefing.
“It is decided that all conditions for an EUA are present, and the benefits of using the vaccine outweigh the potential risk.”
The government targets to vaccinate 58 million of the country’s population before the end of the year to achieve population protection against COVID-19. As of the last record, more than 5 million doses of COVID-19 have been injected, including 3.9 million first doses. More than 1.2 million have completed 2 doses of the vaccine.
Visit our Facebook page for more news updates.