Philippines to receive surplus COVID-19 vaccines from US —envoy

The Philippines will be among the countries that will receive surplus Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses from the United States, according to Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez on Friday.

"It's free, it's part of the help they are giving to their allies," Romualdez said in a radio interview.

Romualdez said the number of doses that will be shared to the Philippines will be determined in the coming days.

"In the next couple of days malalaman natin kung ilan ang ipapadala sa atin [we'll know how many will be sent to us], but this is good news to us," he said, adding that he was informed by the White House that the Philippines will be among the first batch of recipients of US surplus vaccines.

Romualdez said the shipment may arrive as early as June.

According to the ambassador, the US has around 80 million surplus vaccine doses against COVID-19.

He said the Philippines are also expecting vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer and Johnsons & Johnsons in either July or August.

Romualdez had earlier said that at least 300,000 doses of Moderna vaccine doses are expected to arrive in the Philippines by June 21. --KBK, GMA News