The government's efforts to vaccine as many Filipinos against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) appeared to be on the right track as more vaccines continue to arrive, the latest was the first batch of donated Pfizer vaccines from the Covax facility which will be delivered on Monday night, May 10.
In an advisory Sunday, the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 confirmed said 193,050 doses of Pfizer vaccines will arrive at Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City around 9 p.m. The shipment will be carried via DHL Express flight LD457.
NTF Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said last Wednesday that a total of 1.3 million doses of Pfizer vaccines are set for delivery this month. He said the initial doses will be used in the pilot vaccination using the said vaccine.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the jabs will be distributed in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao City and other areas which can handle its negative 70 to negative 80 degrees Celsius storage requirement.
Due to its sensitive cold storage requirements, Galvez had said that the Pfizer vaccines will be flown to the intended warehouses in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao where it will be stored prior to the pilot testing.
In Metro Manila, the NTF said the allocated doses will likely be stored at the Pharmaserv Express cold storage facility in Marikina City.
Once delivered, it would be the fourth time that the Covax facility has donated COVID-19 vaccines to the country.
The World Health Organization (WHO)-led facility has so far delivered 2,556,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines through the shipments that arrived on March 4, March 7, and May 8.
The Pfizer vaccine is 95 percent effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infection, said the Department of Health (DOH), citing Phase III clinical trials.
It is taken in two doses, 21 days apart, and was given an emergency use authorization (EUA) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 14, 2021.
The DOH said that some of the common adverse events reported on individuals inoculated with Pfizer vaccine include short-term and mild to moderate pain at the injection site, fatigue, and headache.