THE government has yet to receive any word as to when the first batch of 117,000 Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines under the COVAX Facility would be arriving.
In a statement delivered over the government-owned television station, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said: “Wala pa po tayo naririnig na balita.”
“Dahil ‘yan po ay ipapadala sa pamamagitan ng eroplano. Ang inaasahan natin ay magbibigay notisiya ang Pfizer sa atin kung naisakay na iyang shipment na yan sa eroplano galing sa Brussels [Belgium] papunta ng Pilipinas,” he added.
Pfizer vaccines has earlier been reported to be arriving in the Philippines February 15, but was delayed due to the absence of an indemnification fund—funded by the Philippine government—for those who will experience adverse effects after taking a COVID-19 vaccine.
The government, however, is expecting 600,000 doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine donated by the Chinese government to arrive next week.
Sinovac’s application for emergency use authorization (EUA), however, has yet to be approved by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The Philippine FDA has only granted EUA to two COVID-19 vaccine makers so far: Pfizer BioNTech and AstraZeneca after being found to be 70 percent to as much as 95-percent effective in preventing COVID-19 infection.
Roque earlier claimed that the Philippines will secure more than 160 million COVID-19 vaccine doses within the year.