More than 1.2 million doses of Moderna coronavirus disease vaccine were delivered to the country on Saturday morning, Nov. 13, the 10th shipment to arrive in the first half of the month.
Assistant Sec. Wilben Mayor, head of National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 sub-task group on current operations, welcomed the containers carrying 1,279,000 doses of the Moderna shots which were procured by the government from the American vaccine manufacturer.
The vaccines arrived onboard China Airlines flight CI701 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 around 9:40 a.m.
The delivery pushed the total vaccine supply to 123,258,340 doses, including 11.2 million doses of Moderna.
More than 69 million doses have already been administered as 31,355,064 individuals have been fully inoculated while 37,673,049 have received their first dose. Further, over 54 million doses were in stockpile and stored in government warehouses.
“Itong mga dumating na Moderna na dumating ay para sa adolescents at minors as well as senior citizens. Idi-distribute po natin ‘yan sa buong bansa (The recently delivered Moderna will be allocated to adolescents and minors as well as senior citizens. We will distribute it nationwide),” he said.
Another shipment will also arrive on Monday, Nov. 15, as the government is poised to receive its 18 millionth dose in the first two weeks of the month.
“It’s important that the Philippines is able to receive different vaccines that are safe and effective whether from COVAX facility or from American producers like Moderna. We’re gald to be here, we’re glad to see the progress. Today we’re delivering 1.279 million doses and hopefully we can sustain that progress,” said United States Embassy political councilor Kenneth Gardner.
During the delivery, Mayor and Gardner were accompanied by Department of Health Undersecretary Ma. Carolina Vidal-Taiño and Zuellig Pharma Market Managing Director Jannette Jakosalem.
Along with the influx of supply, the government has also noted a new record-high in its vaccination output as it administered 1,239,981 doses last Nov. 11. It surpassed the previous record of 1,119,389 doses set on Nov. 4.
Mayor lauded the local government units (LGUs), citing the efforts of Baguio City and Iloilo City, for responding positively to the challenge of President Duterte to increase their vaccination outputs.
He hopes that they will continue to ramp up their vaccination program so that the government will finally be able to achieve its goal of administering 1.5 million doses in a single day.
“Nakikita natin ang pagtrend ng pagtaas ng pagbabakuna sa ating mga kababayan. Kino-congratulate po natin ang LGUs na nagra-ramp up at nag-i-increase ng kanilang vaccination (We are seeing the increasing trend in the vaccination of our people. We congratulate the LGUs that have ramped up and increased their vaccination),” Mayor noted.