Nograles: No rollout date yet for AstraZeneca vaccines

There is no rollout date yet for the 487,200 doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines that are expected to be delivered to the Philippines on Thursday night, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said.

At a press briefing, Nograles said this is pending the recommendation of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) on which sector the AstraZeneca vaccines could be best utilized.

“We are waiting for the advice of the NITAG kung saan gagamitin ang AstraZeneca vaccine, kung puwede sa senior citizens na health workers,” Nograles said.

“We are consulting with NITAG  because Sinovac is only recommended for 18 to 59 years old and there are doctors, nurses who are aged 60 and above,” he added.

He was referring to the 600,000 doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine which were donated by the Chinese government to the Philippines which arrived on February 28 and is currently being used in the government's vaccination program.

The vaccination rollout commenced on March 1, and Nograles said at least 189,000 Sinovac doses have been delivered across the country.

“NITAG is having a meeting about this and we expect to get their recommendation very soon kasi mamayang gabi na rin ang dating ng AstraZeneca and we would like to immediately rollout the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Nograles said.

Under NITAG recommendation, health workers and employees in health care facilities are the first in line to get a COVID-19 vaccine, followed by indigent senior citizens.

The Philippines has 35,056 COVID-19 cases as of March 3. —KBK, GMA News