THE second batch of Sinovac’s CoronaVac anti-coronavirus vaccine doses donated by China has finally arrived, just in time as the government antidote stockpile is running dry.
The arrival of the 400,000 vaccine doses via the Philippine Airlines Boeing 777 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2, brings to one mission the total number of donated China-made jabs delivered through the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVAX facility. The first batch arrived February 28.
Among those who welcomed the vaccines at the NAIA were Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian, and Senator Bong Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health.
In a statement, Duque said the arrival of the vaccines “could not have occurred at a more opportune time considering the continued rise in cases, which in turn increases the need to inoculate more high-risk individuals as soon as possible.”
“We shall see to it that all of our healthcare workers, not just in the National Capital Region but in the whole country, are given the protection they need and deserve for being at the forefront of the battle against the virus,” he said.
Galvez, for his part, said the arrival of the additional CoronaVac vaccines is a “testament that when all nations are working together, we can surmount any challenges ahead.”
“The Philippine government will continue to strengthen its collaboration with China to put an end to this pandemic finally,” he said.
Galvez said 98 percent or 1,105,500 of the total vaccines available were deployed in the country.
At least 408,995 Filipinos or 22 percent of the total 1.8 million medical frontliners have so far been inoculated as of Tuesday. Vaccine rollout started on March 1.
The Philippines is expecting to receive about two million COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of the month. Of these, one million shots were procured from China’s Sinovac and 979,200 doses are the additional donated AstraZeneca doses through COVAX Facility.
To date, the Department of Health has recorded 677,653 confirmed COVID-19 cases amid a new spike in infections pegged at 7,000 on a daily basis.