The newly-delivered two million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from the donations of Covax facility will be used for the inoculation of frontline healthcare workers (A1 priority), senior citizens (A2), and persons with co-morbidities (A3) nationwide, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. revealed Saturday.
Galvez, vaccine czar and chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, witnessed the arrival at 12.49 p.m. from the Netherlands of 2,030,400 AstraZeneca vaccines at Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City.
"The AstraZeneca will be used for A1 to A3 nationwide. Majority will be given to areas with higher attack rate and higher active cases," Galvez said in a post-arrival press briefing.
"Considering these are donations from the Covax, we would like to emphasize that these should be given to people who have the burden of disease and burden of death particularly the healthcare workers, senior citizens, and immunocompromised or those with co-morbidities," he added.
More than 500,000 Filipinos have already been inoculated with the first dose of AstraZeneca jab when the national government's inoculation program started in March.
"They have some worries that the second dose will not be coming but these two million vaccines have given them the assurance that they will have the second dose," Galvez said.
He said the distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccines will commence starting Sunday once the vaccines are accounted for at the cold cahain facility where it will be stored. The vaccines were brought to the warehouse of Pharmaserv Express in Marikina City after the arrival ceremony.
Galvez proposed to President Duterte last Monday the prioritization of vaccination of people living in areas that were hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and have "economic and social importance."
These areas include Metro Manila, Calabarzon (Region 4A), Central Luzon (Region 3), Baguio City among other areas in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and Cagayan Valley (Region 2) in Luzon.
Also included are Metro Cebu City among others in Central Visayas (Region 7), Bacolod City and Iloilo City among others in Western Visayas (Region 6), Eastern Visayas (Region 8) in Visayas.
In Mindanao, included are Zamboanga City among others in Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9), Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City among others in Northern Mindanao (Region 10), Davao City among others in Davao Region (Region 11), and General Santos City among others in Soccsksargen (Region 12).
Another 1.3 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines are also slated to arrive in June as part of the supply procured by the private sector.