An additional 37,800 doses of Sputnik V vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have arrived in the country on Saturday night, July 10.
The shipment carrying the Russian vaccines was delivered via Korean Air flight KE 623 which landed at Terminal 1 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City at 9:42 p.m. Officials from the Department of Health (DOH) witnessed the arrival of the vaccines.
The vaccines were part of the 170,000 doses that were allocated by the Russian government to the country for the month of July. On Friday night, the initial 132,000 doses were delivered by the vaccine manufacturer, Gamaleya Research Institute.
After the arrival ceremony, the vaccines were transported to a cold chain facility of Pharmaserv Express Inc. in Marikina City where it will be stored prior to distribution.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., vaccine czar and chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, said the vaccines will be sued for the first dose inoculation (Component I) of its recipients.
He said it will be distributed to some cities in Metro Manila and parts of Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, as well as Visayas and Mindanao.
With the delivery, the total vaccine supply in the country is now at 20,777,570 doses. Of these, 350,000 doses were Sputnik V vaccines.