ILOILO CITY – The provincial government of Iloilo is planning to purchase 275,000 doses of Sputnik V, the Russian-made vaccine against COVID-19.
Iloilo Provincial Administrator Suzette Mamon said Thursday that Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. sent last April 21 a letter of intent addressed to Gamaleya Research Institute, a branch of Russia’s Ministry of Health that manufactures Sputnik V.
“We are looking into Sputnik V as it is the only one available in the market right now,” Mamon said.
The Iloilo provincial government initially signed a multilateral agreement with British pharmaceutical firm AztraZeneca and the government to procure 271,000 doses of AztraZeneca’s AZD1222 vaccines. According to Mamon, the order for AZD1222 vaccines may arrive by the third quarter of this year.
The Department of Health (DOH) is distributing the COVID-19 vaccines Sinovac of China and AztraZeneca’s AZD1222 currently used in the 42 towns and component city of Passi.
But since the DOH issued temporary suspension of usage of AZD1222 to those who are below 60-years-old, local governments are looking into other options.