THE government announced that the country has already reached its target COVID-19 vaccine deliveries of 100 million, even if there are still a few more days left before the end of October.
National Task Force Against COVID 19 (NTF) chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. said the Philippines already received a total of 100,528,240 COVID-19 vaccine doses following the delivery on Thursday, October 28, 2021, of an additional 976,950 government-procured Pfizer-BioNTech jabs.
“Today, we celebrate another milestone in our national vaccination program. Initially, there were those who doubted that this feat could be achieved given the many challenges we had to face and overcome,” Galvez said during the press conference following the arrival of the vaccines..
Galvez commended member-agencies of the task force, as well as the private sector, local government units (LGUs) and international partner organizations for their support and commitment to help the country secure and scale up its vaccine supply.
“This achievement is not only a product of a nation’s people working together, but is also a testament of the strong cooperation among international and multilateral partners and stakeholders to save lives and humanity,” he said.
Galvez also highlighted the significant contribution of the tripartite agreement forged between manufacturers, the private sector, LGUs, and the national government to secure the 24.9 million vaccine doses that have significantly expanded the country’s supply inventory.
“The pooling of resources was an effective strategy to ensure our vaccine allocations from various manufacturers, and assure their timely delivery to the country,” he said.
Galvez also thanked Presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion and Enrique Razon of the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) for initiating the multiparty agreements for AstraZeneca and Moderna, respectively.
Of the 100.52 million doses delivered to the Philippines, 62.67 million doses were government procured, 7.98 million doses were procured by the private sector and LGUs, 24.33 million doses came from the COVAX facility, and 5.53 million doses were direct donations of partner-nations.
Now part of the country’s vaccine inventory include brands such as AstraZeneca with 12.69 million doses, Pfizer-BioNTech with 27.31 million doses, 44.5 million doses of Sinovac, 1.69 million doses of Sputnik V, 9.98 million doses of Moderna, 3.24 million doses of Johnson & Johnson, and 1.1 million doses of Sinopharm.
He also acknowledged the tireless efforts of the members of the Vaccine Expert Panel in deliberating on the efficacy of vaccines, and giving timely recommendations on the vaccines that should be included in the country’s vaccine portfolio.
He also underscored the invaluable contribution of the Department of Finance led by Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Undersecretary Mark Joven in negotiating with the various vaccine makers, as well as sourcing funds for the country’s vaccine procurement.
Galvez thanked the Department of Health led by Secretary Francisco Duque III, National Vaccination Operations Center Chair Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, and Secretary Vivencio Dizon for the efficient rollout of the national vaccine program – from supply allocation, to deployment, handling, and administration.