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Philippines receives 703,000 more Pfizer vaccine doses


The Philippines received on Wednesday night the 703,000 additional vaccine doses manufactured by American firm Pfizer.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez earlier said the country is expecting to receive five million doses of Pfizer vaccines in September.

In an interview with reporters, Galvez said majority of the newly delivered Pfizer vaccines will be sent to provinces particularly in Calabarzon, Central Luzon, and Ilocos Region.

He added that they are expecting to receive 25 million vaccines of various brands this month.

As the government still waits for the delivery of 147 million vaccine doses, Galvez said they are still aiming to achieve herd immunity this year.

"Hopefully, all of our orders will be coming in, the 147 million (doses) remaining. Now, we have more or less 52 million," Galvez said.

"We are still aiming for high target of 70% (population) by end of December," he said.

Data from the National Task Force against COVID-19 showed that the Philippines administered  33,306,355 doses of various vaccines as of Aug. 31.

Of the number, at least 13,836,357 individuals received complete vaccines, which is still off the country's target to vaccinate 70 million people in order to achieve herd immunity.

Philippines' virus cases reached the two-million mark after detecting more than 13,000 new cases amid the community transmission of the highly infectious Delta coronavirus variant.

Total recoveries was at  1,829,473 while COVID-19 death toll rose to 33,533. -- Consuelo Marquez/BAP, GMA News

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