Initial 15K Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine doses to arrive today - Dizon
National Task Force (NTF) Deputy Chief Implementer and Testing Czar Vince Dizon said Saturday, May 1, the first batch of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines ordered from Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute will arrive this Saturday at around 5 p.m.

He said based on the information they received Friday night, the initial 15,000 doses of Sputnik V are expected to arrive in the country.
"Ngayon, mamayang hapon naman po ay padating na po at sigurado na ang unang batch ng Sputnik V...mamayang hapon bandang ala singko ng hapon (Today, this afternoon, the first batch of Sputnik V will surely arrive, at around five o’cock in the afternoon),” he said in an interview over DZBB.
"Nakakuha po kami ng impormasyon kagabi na on the way na ho ang eroplano at in transit na po ngayon (We got an information last night, the airplane is on its way and currently in transit).”
He attributed the delayed delivery of Sputnik V vaccines to logistical constraints.
During the Laging Handa public briefing, Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire also confirmed the arrival of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccines this afternoon.
An initial 20,000 doses of Sputnik V were supposed to arrive in the country on April 22, while the remaining 480,000 doses were due to be flown in on April 29.
Dizon said the initial batch of Sputnik vaccines will be given to five local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila.
“Yung ating Sputnik V ay ide-deploy po muna sa NCR dahil medyo delicate ang handling nito (Our Sputnik V will be deployed first in the NCR because its handling is quite delicate),” he said.
He said the recipients of the Russian-made vaccines are cities of Makati, Taguig, Parañaque , Manila and Muntinlupa.
He said the next batch of 485,000 doses will be given to other cities in Metro Manila and even in Cebu and Davao.
Dizon said more doses of Sputnik V jabs will arrive in May and June, citing that the government had ordered 10 million doses of such vaccines.
He estimated that about 1.5 to 2 million doses will arrive in the country in next few months.