Three million doses of CoronaVac vaccine from Chinese manufacturer Sinovac Biotech arrived in the country on Wednesday, Nov. 10, pushing the current total supply to 117 million doses.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines were transported to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 around 11:15 a.m. via Philippine Air Lines (PAL) flight PR361.
These were procured by the national government from China through the loans provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
“We encourage the local government units (LGUs) to speed up their vaccination rate so that majority of our countrymen will be vaccinated before December,” said Assistant Sec. Wilben Mayor, head of National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 sub-task group on current operations.
Mayor said the national government aims to vaccinate 50 to 80 percent of the 110 million total population and about 80 to 90 percent by February 2022 to ensure that the national and local elections will be conducted safely.
To achieve this, a three-day “National Vaccination Day” was proposed by the NTF Against COVID-19 from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 where at least 15 million individuals will be targeted to be inoculated across the country.
Mayor said that all of the vaccines in the inventory, including the Sinovac shots, will be used in the nationwide vaccination program. This, despite some LGUs that have reportedly refused to accept the Chinese-made jabs.
“To our countrymen, let us not choose what brand to use. The vaccines that have arrived here all underwent into a process and the medical experts said these are all effective and safe,” Mayor stated.
“Take this opportunity to be vaccinated. We really have to increase our vaccination output so that we can have a really merry Christmas,” he added.
With the latest delivery, the total vaccine supply has reached 117,245,400 doses.
Meanwhile, another 1.7 million doses of Pfizer vaccine will also arrive in the country in two batches on Wednesday night and Thursday.
The Pfizer vaccines are expected to be used for the planned National Vaccination Day and the inoculation of minors. Only the Pfizer and Moderna jabs have an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the vaccination of children and adolescents in the country.
So far, a total of 633,322 individuals aged 12 to 17 have already been vaccinated including 89,925 children who have co-morbidities, according to Mayor.