500k doses of Sinovac vaccine arriving in Manila Sunday —PAL

An additional 500,000 doses of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines purchased from China are set to arrive in Manila on Sunday afternoon on flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight.

PAL said the doses will be arriving on flight PR359 scheduled to land in Manila 5:18 p.m. on Sunday, April 11. This represents the second batch of Sinovac vaccine purchased by the Philippine government.

The Philippines procured some 25 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine

Prior to the arrival of the first batch of procured vaccines, the Philippines received 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government, and 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca from the global aid initiative COVAX Facility.

COVID-19 policy chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said the Philippines targets to vaccinate some 50 to 70 million Filipinos this year, but several agencies have expressed doubts the goal will be achieved.

Last week, the Philippines suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on people younger than 60 years of age, following reports of blood clots with low platelet counts in some recipients overseas.

A day earlier, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the administration of Sinovac vaccines to senior citizens amid a shortage in vaccine supply.

Prior to this, the FDA did not recommend senior citizens to take Sinovac jabs as it said it needed more data to prove its safety and effectivity on the elderly.

President Rodrigo Duterte has cultivated friendly ties with China since assuming the presidency in 2016, but invoked the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling invalidating China's sweeping claim in a speech before the UN General Assembly in September.

Over the years, China, which insists on its historical claim over nearly the entire South China Sea, has expanded its presence in the waters. It has turned several former reefs into artificial islands with military facilities, runways, and surface-to-air missiles.

Malacañang has downplayed concerns that China could put pressure on developing countries such as the Philippines on geopolitical issues, in exchange for the supply of vaccines against COVID-19. —LBG, GMA News