Philippines awaits entry of Sinovac vaccines from China

The Philippines—the only remaining country in the ASEAN region without coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines—is now awaiting the scheduled arrival of the first batch of 600,000 doses of  Sinovac from China.

Health officials are currently on standby with President Rodrigo Duterte set to personally receive the shipment which his spokesperson said is a manifestation of the country's gratitude towards China for the vaccines.

The private partner for the transport and storage of the vaccines, MetroPac Movers Inc. under the Pangilinan group, is also awaiting the entry of the shipments.

To recall, the Philippines ordered an initial batch of 600,000 doses initially expected to arrive on February 23, but was pushed back due to the lack of the emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which was only released February 22.

Sinovac is the third vaccine to secure an EUA from the FDA after AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech, but the regulator does not recommend the vaccine for health workers due to its lower efficacy rate of 50.4% in the sector.

The FDA said it is best for healthy individuals aged 18 to 59, but has since clarified that despite its recommendation, those who wish to avail of the vaccine may do so.

The government has allocated P82.5 billion for its state vaccination program: P70 billion from loans, P10 billion from the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, and P2.5 billion from the 2021 Department of Health (DOH) budget. — BM, GMA News