COVID-19 vaccines for 1st quarter 98% deployed, says Galvez

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. on Monday night said the total vaccine deployed in the country for the first quarter of 2021 was at 1,105,500 or 98 percent.

At a briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte, Galvez said a total of 369,049 health workers have already been inoculated.

Galvez also said the 400,000 doses of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine will arrive on March 24, while the 979,000 AstraZeneca vaccine may arrive between March 24 to 26.

Meanwhile, the one million Sinovac doses procured by the government will be delivered on March 29.

For the second quarter, Galvez said 5.5 million vaccine doses are expected to arrive in the country in April. Of the 5.5 million, 1.5 to two million doses will be coming from Sinovac, three million from Gamaleya, and one million from COVAX.

A total of 8,974,000 million COVID-19 vaccine doses are also expected to be delivered in May. These will be coming from Sinovac, Gamaleya, AstraZeneca, COVAX, and Moderna, he said.

Galvez also said 11.5 million COVID-19 shots from Sinovac, Gamaleya, Novavax and AstraZeneca will arrive in June.

He added that the target vaccination from April to May would be 500,000 to one million per week.

On Tuesday, Galvez said simultaneous vaccinations will also be conducted in the second quarter of the year.

"Ang ano natin, kaya natin sinabi na gusto natin [magkaroon] ng simultaneous kasi darating ng end of second quarter iyong mga deliveries ng ating private sector at LGUs. Majority will be coming May, June, July and August," he said.

[We want to start simultaneous vaccination during the second quarter because vaccine deliveries for the private sector and the LGUs will be arriving around that time, May, June, July, and August.]

"So doon magsisimula ang tinatawag na simultaneous [vaccination]. Most likely ang ating mga frontliners matatapos natin yan by the middle of April," he added, saying the simultaneous vaccinations will cover those under the A2 (seniro citizens) and A3 (with comorbidities) categories.

[So simultaneous vaccinations will start around that time because most likely our frontliners will have been vaccinated by mid-April.]

For the third quarter, he said 13.5 million vaccine doses will arrive in July, while 20 million shots will be delivered in August.

The target vaccination from June to July will be one to two million per week, Galvez said.

In September, 20 million vaccine doses will be delivered.

For the fourth quarter, Galvez said a total of 60 million vaccine doses are expected to be procured.—LDF/MDM, GMA News