A TOTAL of 190,000 Sputnik V (Component 2) COVID-19 vaccines arrived last night via Qatar Airways at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.
National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. said they hope the arrival of Component 2 of the Sputnik V vaccines will help allay the fears of Filipinos who already got their first jab of the Russian-made vaccine under Component 1 and have been waiting for the second dose for a long time.
“We sincerely apologize for the delays, and we hope that there will be no more delays in the delivery of other vaccines. We’re already scaling up our deliveries with Pfizer, Moderna, Sinovac and even COVAX will increase their deliveries,” Galvez said in an interview with reporters upon arrival of the vaccines.
He said these Sputnik V vaccines will reach areas such as Bohol, Isabela, Bacoor (Cavite), here in the National Capital Region (NCR) and in others like in Region 3 and Region 4-A, and those who have not yet received Component 2 of the vaccine.
With all the delays in the delivery of Sputnik V vaccines, Galvez said they are shifting their focus on the single-dose Sputnik Light. “We are already pushing for Sputnik Light because this will be easier to deploy in geographically isolated areas and it will be more advantageous for the Philippines.”
Galvez added that as the supply of vaccines continue arriving at a regular rate, they are looking at 110 million vaccines delivered to the country after the end of October.
So far, according to Galvez, around 18.3 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated already, while 22.7 million have received their first jab of COVID-19 vaccine.
Earlier in the day, around 961,000 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines arrived in the country via China Airlines Flight C1703 at the Terminal 1 of the NAIA past 3 p.m.
Today, September 19, more vaccines are expected to arrive in the country. A total of 3 million government-procured Sinovac vaccines will arrive at around 6 pm, and before the day ends, around 2 million more Pfizer vaccines via the COVAX Facility.
Aside from Secretary Galvez, the Sputnik V vaccines were welcomed by Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Marat Pavlov, Philippine Archipelago International Trading Corporation Chairman Benito Yap Aw and President Olivia Limpe Aw.