Customs greenlights release of 400K Sinovac vials from NAIA

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Thursday gave clearance for the release of 400,000 Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines donated by China from the port of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

In a statement, the BOC announced that the second batch of COVID-19 vaccine donations of China was already cleared a day after its arrival in the Philippines.

The first 600,000 COVID-19 vaccines from China arrived in the country last February 28 and was welcomed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero also committed that the BOC will expedite the processing, clearance, and release of COVID-19 vaccines that will arrive in the country amid the rise of cases in the Philippines.

The BOC in NAIA also vowed to strengthen its coordination with the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration to ensure that only the registered goods related to COVID-19 will be cleared for release.

Aside from the 1 million doses donated by China, 525,000 vials of AstraZeneca vaccine donated by the COVAX facility also arrived in the country last March 4.

Earlier, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said that 979,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses may also arrive between March 24 to 26.

Aside from Sinovac and AstraZeneca, other COVID-19 vaccines issued with emergency use authorization by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration were Pfizer-BioNTech and Sputnik V.—AOL, GMA News