Additional 1.5 million doses of vaccine for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was delivered on Thursday, June 17, as the national government attempts to inoculate millions of Filipinos this year
The delivery of 1.5 million doses of Sinovac from China brought to more than nine million the total supply of COVID-19 vaccines delivered to the Philippines. Early this month, the vaccination of essential workers and indigent Filipinos was started
Secretary Carlito Galvez, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar, received the vaccines onboard a chartered Cebu Pacific flight 5J671 on Thursday morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2, along with Health Secretary Francisco Duque.
The vaccines will then be transported to a cold storage facility of Pharmaserv Express, Inc. in Marikina City where it will be preserved prior to distribution to local government units (LGUs).
The shipment will be among the biggest single-day delivery of the Chinese vaccines in the Philippines. A total of 500,000 of the delivered doses, according to Galvez, was bought by the Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) through a tripartite agreement.
The Thursday delivery was the third of the shipment of Sinovac this month. One million doses each were delivered on June 6 and June 10 by the Chinese vaccine manufacturer.
Another one million doses are expected to arrive on June 24.