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NAIA commercial flights won't be affected by Sinovac vaccines arrival —CAAP
Commercial flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) will not be affected by the expected arrival of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday afternoon, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said.
CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio said due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only a limited number of commercial flights are currently operating, thus the vaccines' arrival would have no effect on airport traffic, according to a report by Luisito Santos on Dobol B TV on Saturday.
The vaccines—600,000 doses of Sinovac jab donated by China
—will be on a special flight using military aircraft.The plane is expected to land at the Villamor Airbase.
President Rodrigo Durterte will personally receive the 600,000 doses of Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine, according to Senator Christopher “Bong” Go.
Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said the donation shows the "profound friendship"
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“A friend in need is a friend indeed. The donation of vaccines is another testament to the solidarity as well as profound friendship and partnership between our two peoples and two countries,” he said in a Facebook post.
The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency use authorization for Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine, its director general, Dr. Eric Domingo, announced on Monday.
This development makes Sinovac, a Chinese pharmaceutical firm, the third company to secure an EUA in the Philippines after AstraZeneca of UK and Pfizer-BioNTech of US/Germany.
Domingo said Sinovac’s efficacy ranged from 65.3% to 91.2%, but only reached 50.4% among health workers with COVID-19 exposure.
Immunization experts however approved the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for health workers, and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases has accepted this recommendation, Department of Health said Friday.
Malacañang said Friday the IATF’s approval is a guarantee of the vaccine's safety and benefits. —KG, GMA News