A timely Christmas present arrived on Friday, Dec. 24, with the arrival of 1,405,170 doses of Pfizer vaccine which could protect more Filipinos from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The plane carrying the vaccines landed on Terminal 1 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) around 3:40 a.m., according to the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19.
The delivery came after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved on Thursday the emergency use authorization (EUA) of Pfizer for children aged five to 11.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. urged local government units (LGUs) to prepare for the start of the vaccination of five- to 11-year-old children so that they, too, will be protected against COVID-19 and the threat of Omicron variant.
With the delivery, the total vaccine supply now reached 198,822,705 doses, which are supposed to be more than enough to achieve the national target of fully vaccinating 54 million Filipinos by the end of this year.
But out of the total supply, the government has administered around 105 million doses as of Thursday: 46.95 million Filipinos were fully vaccinated while 56.82 million received their first dose.
Around 1.34 million individuals have also been given their booster shot.