The national government received Sunday afternoon, Aug. 15, a total of 469,200 doses of Moderna vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which it procured under a tripartite agreement with the help of the private sector.
Singapore Airlines flight SQ912 transported the United States-made jabs as it landed on Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City at exactly 3:11 p.m.
The National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 said 319,200 doses will go to the government while 150,000 doses will be allocated to the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) owned by port mogul Enrique Razon Jr.
Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr., vaccine czar and NTF chief implementer; and Clare Bea, chief of the Environmental, Science, Technology and Health Unit of United States Embassy, witnessed the arrival of the vaccines.
"I'd like to thank the US government and also Moderna for allowing us to have access to these very effective and efficacious vaccine. We are very thankful that the Moderna has given us regular deliveries," Galvez said.
The vaccine czar said the newly delibered jabs will help the government attain its goal this month of inoculating 600,000 to 700,000 Filipinos a day.
"In order to achieve more or less 600,000 to 700,000 jabs a day, our primary objective is to have a steady supply. We have negotiated with our suppliers like Moderna, Pfizer, and other manufacturers that we need a steady supply every month," he explained.
This month and in September, the government expects to receive 20 to 30 million doses, according to Galvez.
With the delivery, the total vaccine supply increased to 42,575,350 doses. It includes 4,296,060 doses of procured and donated Moderna vaccines.
Other brands were 22.5 million doses of Sinovac; 7,849,740 doses of AstraZeneca; 4,223,700 doses of Pfizer; 3,240,850 doses of Johnson & Johnson; 365,000 doses of Sputnik V; and 100,000 doses of Sinopharm.
Meanwhile, Galvez bared that a total of 27,552,770 doses have already been administered nationwide as of Aug. 14.
There are 15,092,332 Filipinos who have received their first dose.
On the other hand, 12,460,438 Filipinos are now fully vaccinated, representing 17.59 percent of the targeted eligible population and 11.31 percent of the Philippines' total population.
The government aims to vaccinate 70 percent, or 77 million Filipinos out of the total 110 million population, by year-end to achieve herd immunity.