VACCINES TO ARRIVE BY MAY

US commits to early delivery of COVID–19 vaccines –Galvez

The US State Department has committed to the early delivery of either the Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson&Johnson COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines, with deliveries expected to arrive by May, vaccine czar Carlito Galvezx Jr. disclosed on Tuesday.

“This afternoon, I was called by [Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel “Babes”] Romualdez that he just came from [the] White House, from an appointment with the State Department and they promised that either Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer or Moderna will have an early delivery by May,” Galvez said in a House of Representatives briefing.

Another 5 million doses of Moderna vaccines will be delivered in addition to the 30 million doses ordered by the Philippine government, he added.

“Most likely, Moderna will add some deliveries by the second quarter and we also increased the order of Moderna to another 5 million out of 30 million that we have ordered already,” Galvez said.

Galvez said earlier that the national government had rolled out 80.85% of its total COVID-19 vaccines during the first quarter of 2021.

So far, 1,233,500 out of 1,525,600 total vaccine shots had been dispatched to over 2,497 immunization sites, which covers 771 cities and municipalities nationwide.

Around 668,016 health workers have received their first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.

As for vaccine deliveries during the second quarter, the country will receive 1.5 million shots from Sinovac, 100,000 shots from Gamaleya, 1 million from the COVAX facility in April.

In May, the Philippines will get 2 million Sinovac shots, 2 million from Gamaleya, 2.6 million from AstraZeneca, 1 million from COVAX, and 194,000 from Moderna.

The country is also expecting 4.5 million doses from Sinovac, 4 million from Gamaleya, 1 million from Novavax, and 2 million from AstraZeneca by June this year.

In the third quarter, the Philippine government is eyeing to receive 13.5 million vaccine shots for the whole month of July.

Of the said number, 3 million will be from Sinovac, 4 million from Gamaleya, 1 million from Moderna, 2 million from Novavax, 1.5 million from Johnson & Johnson, and 2 million from AstraZeneca.

From August to December, Galvez said the Philippine government is anticipating 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses every month. — DVM, GMA News