The Philippines is set to receive 3 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine from the government of the United States, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said.
In a radio interview, Roque said he got the assurance from the US Embassy in Manila about the donation on July 1.
"Inaasahan din natin iyong donasyon ng Amerika, mayroon din tayong mga 3 million na Johnson & Johnson na single dosage po iyan (We are expecting the donation of the USA of 3 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine)," he told RMN-DZXL on Wednesday, July 7.
"So that is good for 3 million individuals na wala na pong second dose (no second dose is needed)," he added.
Roque said the donation will go through the COVAX Facility, the global pooled procurement mechanism for COVID-19 vaccines led by the World Health Organization (WHO).
However, he was unsure when the vaccines will arrive.
"I was assured po ng mga Amerikano na talagang iyan po ang kanilang idu-donate. Ang isyu na lang is when exactly darating iyan (The Americans assured me that they will donate 3 million doses. The issue now is when exactly will they arrive here)," Roque said.
Based on the presentation of Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr., 3,024,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines donated by the US government may arrive in the Philippines within the month of July.
So far, the country has five brands of anti-COVID-19 shots being administered to the public. All vaccines available in the country's inventory are two-dose vaccines.
As of July 4, a total of 11,708,029 doses have already been administered with 2,868,905 individuals being fully vaccinated.
This month, a total of 16,205,240 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were expected to be delivered to the country.