More than three million doses of Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) will arrive in the country from the United States on July 19.
The single-dose vaccine will be distributed in geographically-isolated areas in Visayas and Mindanao, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. disclosed Monday night, July 12.
"Napakalaking tulong po iyon kasi one shot po 'yong J&J, at ito po ‘yung ibibigay natin sa mga island provinces at saka ito po ang ibibigay po natin sa lahat ng mga karatig-pook ng Mindanao at saka po ng Visayas (It is a big help to us because J&J is a one-shot vaccine and it will be distibuted in the island provinces and all the neighboring areas in Mindanao and Visayas)," Galvez said at President Duterte's public address.
Manufactured by American pharmaceutical company Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, the J&J vaccines were donated by the US government to the COVAX facility, a global initiative that seeks to give countries an equal access to vaccines, where the Philippines is a part of.
Unlike other available brands in the country that need two doses, the J&J vaccine only uses one dose which make its rollout easier.
According to data from the Department of Health (DOH) as of June 2, the J&J vaccine is 77 percent effective against severe or critical COVID-19 infection after 14 days of inoculation. Its efficacy rises to 85 percent after 28 days of inoculation.
Janssen obtained an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on April 19.
Galvez expressed confidence that the use of J&J vaccine will help them achieve their target of administering 10 million doses for the month of July.
"Very confident po kami kasi 'yong Johnson & Johnson ay ika-count na natin as second dose. Kung three million po ang maibakuna po natin ngayong buwan, that's already accounted as three million second dose (We are very confident because Johnson & Johnson can already be caounted as second dose. If we are able to administer three million this month, that's already counted as three million second dose)," Galvez said.
As of July 11, a total of 13,196,282 doses were already administered nationwide.
Of these, 9,669,940 individuals received their first dose while 3,526,342 others were fully vaccinated after getting two doses of COVID-19 vaccine