More than 700,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were donated by the United States (US) to the Philippines.
Through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility, US donated a total of 769,860 doses of Pfizer vaccines. The new batch of donation arrived in the country on Monday, Feb. 28, the Embassy of United States in Manila said Tuesday, March 1.
It is part of the 1.2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses that the US is making available for distribution through COVAX, a global initiative to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
It is brought to more than 29.3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses the US donated to the Philippines.
The US is the largest contributor to COVAX, having donated $4 billion to help protect the most vulnerable and at-risk populations in 92 low- and middle-income countries.
“As the Philippines slowly shifts to the new normal, we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure that Filipinos continue to have access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines. Our partnership will help keep the country’s momentum in ending this pandemic, paving the way for a much healthier, safer tomorrow,” US Embassy in the Philippines Chargé d’Affaires (CDA) ad interim Heather Variava said.
Variava added that the US is working closely with Philippine partners to protect public health and support the local response to COVID-19.
In addition to vaccine donations, the US government has also provided more than P1.9 billion in COVID-19 assistance to the Philippines to support testing, crucial care, communication campaigns, protection and training of health workers, vaccine deployment, and essential equipment and supplies.