Almost 1M AstraZeneca vaccines to arrive in April or May —DOH

The 979,200 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine initially expected this month will arrive in the country in April or early May, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the World Health Organization, which co-leads the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility, has informed the Philippine government that there could be some delays in the delivery.

“Although the assurance was there that the vaccines will arrive in April or early May,” she said in a briefing.

In a separate news conference, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the doses might arrive in the last few days of March or in early April. 

Roque: Over 900,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines donated by COVAX facility expected to arrive during last few days of March or first week of April @gmanews

— Llanesca T. Panti (@llanescajourno) March 29, 2021

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. previously said the doses would be delivered on March 22. 

Meanwhile, the Philippines will receive 1 million more doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine on Monday afternoon.

Over 656,000 individuals have received their first dose as of March 27, according to the DOH. —KBK, GMA News