Philippines gets 2 million more AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses

Over two million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines donated by global aid facility COVAX arrived in the Philippines on Friday.

It was the second shipment of AstraZeneca doses delivered to the country in as many days.

The National Task Force against COVID-19 said the 2,028,000 doses arrived at the NAIA Terminal 3 past 4 pm on Friday.

The Japanese government’s donation of over 1.1 million doses of AstraZeneca landed on Thursday night.

Present during the arrival of COVAX-donated AstraZeneca doses were vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., Health Undesecretary Ma. Carolina Vidal-Taino, UNICEF Representative to the Philippines Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov, USAID Mission Director Sean Callahan and World Health Organization Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe.

Friday’s AstraZeneca shipment brings the total number of AstraZeneca doses delivered to the Philippines at 5,708,100 doses, of which 1,124,100 doses were donated by the Japanese government while the 4,584,000 doses came from the COVAX facility.

AstraZeneca, administered in two doses, has an efficacy rate of 70% after the first dose based on the evaluation of the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

AstraZeneca is developed by the British government and Oxford University.

Sputnik V

Also on Friday night, a total of 132,200 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine bought by the Philippine government landed Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

This is the fourth batch of Sputnik V vaccines that have arrived in the country.

Of the deliveries, over 82,000 doses will be administered for the first dose while 50,000 will be allocated for the second dose.

The National Task Force against COVID-19 said 170,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine were initially scheduled to arrive on Wednesday night but were delayed due to “logistics.”

The Philippine government is eyeing to inoculate 58 million people or 70% of the population in highly urbanized areas by the end of the year to achieve population protection or protection for the most vulnerable for the disease. —NB, GMA News