A day after it received 8.2 million vaccines, the country received another all-time high delivery in a single day with the arrival of 10,403,550 doses of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) shots on Wednesday, Dec. 15.
However, the milestone was eclipsed by the recording of the first two cases of the new Omicron variant in the Philippines. They reportedly include an overseas Filipino who came from Japan and a Nigerian national, both of whom arrived two weeks ago.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., vaccine czar and chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, assured the public that the government has long prepared against the entry of Omicron so the only thing left to do is to observe the minimum health standards and get the life-saving vaccines to prevent its spread.
“The country has been readying the borders and local health system for the entry of Omicron through the stronger required pre-departure test, facility quarantine, and testing of all allowed arrivals. The local system is being readied through active case finding, immediate isolation, and testing,” Galvez said in a statement read by Assistant Secretary Wilben Mayor, head of NTF’s strategic communications on current operations.
“We are also taking an inventory of our healthcare facilities to ensure that we can accommodate any increase in cases,” Galvez added.
Mayor said the vaccines will be used in the ongoing “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” National Vaccination Days which began Wednesday morning until Friday, Dec. 17.
“With the presence of the reported Omicron now in the Philippines, two cases, then it is but necessary that everyone should be vaccinated. It is the intention and the purpose of the National Vaccination Operations Center led by Secretary Galvez that by the end of the year, there will be 54 million fully vaccinated Filipinos,” he stated.
Deliveries
The first two deliveries came in at 4 p.m. which were composed of 214,500 doses of AstraZeneca that were provided by the United Kingdom to the Philippines through bilateral donations, and 856,800 doses of Moderna from Germany’s donation coursed through the COVAX facility.
“This continues our strategy of trying to ensure equitable access of vaccines around the world especially to countries like the Philippines,” said British Embassy deputy head of mission Alastair Totty.
Around 10 minutes later, Netherlands’ donations of 3,055,200 doses of Janssen’s Johnson & Johnson vaccine through the COVAX facility also arrived.
This completed the Dutch government’s commitment of bringing in 7,538,400 vaccines to the Philippines. The first two batches arrived on Monday and Tuesday.
Another shipment came in at 9 p.m. which carried 1,187,550 doses of Pfizer vaccines that were purchased by the national government from the United States. Of these, a total of 105,300 doses will be flown to Davao on Thursday.
“It’s very important for the Philippines to receive safe and effective vaccines this evening and we’re very pleased that they’ve been able to procure vaccines from pharmaceutical companies in America. We’re very pleased to see the progress that the Philippines has been making in obtaining vaccines for its people,” said US Embassy Charge d’Affaires Heather Variava.
Then, the private sector’s procurement of 2,249,400 doses of AstraZeneca arrived at 9:45 p.m., which was followed by the delivery of another 2,840,100 doses of Moderna from Germany’s donations at 10:15 p.m.
So far, the vaccine supply already reached 177,255,270 doses. Around 42 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.