NOT all local government units (LGUs) may be able to get the order it placed for AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, maybe just half of them, says vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez.
Citing scarcity of supplies, Galvez said that the British-Swedish drug firm AstraZeneca may only be able to deliver half of the order placed by most of the LGUs expected this year, adding that the rest might arrive next year at the earliest.
“Nakita natin na because of the problem of supply ni AstraZeneca, most likely yung AstraZeneca na binili ng LGU, half of the AstraZeneca volume will be delivered only 2021, and another other half will be in 2022,” said Galvez days after President Rodrigo Duterte accused the European Union of hoarding COVID-19 vaccines, particularly from AstraZeneca.
But there is no cause for alarm, said Galvez, who finds no problem in securing AstraZeneca jabs, adding that the European doses would be manufactured in Thailand soon.
The vaccine czar further said that the next batch of AstraZeneca vaccines procured by the national government will be delivered in June. Interestingly, those jabs won’t be for public consumption but for the private sector only.
“Napag-usapan namin ni Sir Joey [Concepcion, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship] na yung 1.3 million [doses] na darating this coming June will be dedicated for the private sector. And they decided that will be deployed in the Metro Manila area,” Galvez said.
Since the vaccine rollout started on March 1, the government has only managed to vaccinate 1.3 million Filipinos.