2.2 million Pfizer jabs from COVAX facility to arrive on June 11 — Galvez
MANILA, Philippines — The COVAX facility will deliver over 2 million COVID-19 shots developed by Pfizer-BioNtech to the Philippines on June 11, marking the beginning of a steady monthly supply from the global vaccine sharing initiative, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. announced Tuesday.
The delivery of 2.2 million Pfizer doses was initially scheduled for end-May but was pushed back to June.
So far, the Philippines has received an initial delivery of 193,050 Pfizer jabs from the World Health Organization-led facility.
"This June 11, there will be 2.2 million [Pfizer vaccines] arriving in the country," Galvez said in an update delivered in Filipino aired over state-run PTV.
"They will be deployed directly to barangays in Cebu, Davao and Metro Manila," he added.
Initial Pfizer deliveries from COVAX were deployed to these same areas because they have the capacity to store them at the required temperature of -70°C.
The government expects some 10 million vaccines to arrive in June.
The country's vaccine supply will be "stabilized" by July, Galvez said, comprised mostly of AstraZeneca, Moderna, Sinovac and Sputnik V jabs.
He added that over 5 million Filipinos, of the total 110 million population, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
National Task Force Against COVID-19 deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon said the Philippines is targeting to administer four to five million vaccines this June.
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The national government has so far secured two official deals for COVID-19 vaccine supplies in the Philippines, one with Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac and another with the Serum Institute of India.
Watch this space for bite-sized developments on the vaccines in the Philippines. (Main image by Markus Spiske via Unsplash)
Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire says the general population may now get their second booster jab.
"We're just waiting for the release of implementing guidelines, then we'll start rolling out our second booster for the general population," she says. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
Amid questions on vaccines being administered, the Department of Health assures the public all doses are safe and effective as the “process of extending shelf life goes through thorough stability studies.”
“The government ensures that every vaccine that is injected with an extended shelf life has gone through studies, and is still safe and effective against COVID-19,” it adds.
Government must increase vaccination capacity across the Philippines in anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the corona virus, Sen. Risa Hontiveros says.
She says local government units and the private sector can work together to put up more vaccination centers and deploy more vaccination teams to get more people inoculated against COVID-19.
"The active COVID cases have nearly doubled in three days. The positivity rate is almost four times the ceiling set by the World Health Organization. Huwag na nating hintayin na sobrang lumala pa ang sitwasyon bago tayo gumawa ng paraan para mapabilis ang ating pagbabakuna."
FDA chief Eric Domingo says that its agency has given emergency approval for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
The United States immunized around 900,000 children aged five-to-11 against Covid in the first week the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for them, a White House official says Wednesday.
Roughly 700,000 more have made appointments at pharmacies, White House Covid coordinator Jeff Zients tells reporters.
"The program is just getting up to full strength," he says, adding most of the shots were given in the last couple of days alone. — AFP
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