Philippines receives 1.2M more Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses

Some 1.2 million more doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the Philippines on Thursday morning, according to Luisito Santos' report on Super Radyo dzBB.

The 1,233,300 doses of Moderna vaccine arrived via a China Airlines flight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 (NAIA 1) at 9:19 a.m.

Of the total number, 863,800 doses were procured by the Philippine government while 369,500 doses were for the International Container Terminal Services, Inc.

The arrival of the new supply was welcomed by NTF chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and United States Embassy’s economic officer Saptarshi Basu.

Zuellig Pharma senior vice president Raymond Azurin and Department of Health division chief Dr. Joel Buenaventura were also present at the airport.

Galvez said the doses of the national government will be delivered to priority regions such as Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Davao, Soccsksargen, and Central Visayas.

Vulnerable cities with previous surges of COVID-19 cases will also receive supply from these doses, he added.

According to Galvez, around 71.3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have arrived in the country and around 45.2 million of these doses have been administered already.

Around 21 million people are already fully vaccinated while 24 million have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

The country aims to vaccinate 70 million of its population, Galvez said.

Over 20 million Filipinos have so far been vaccinated against COVID-19 since the national inoculation program started on March 1.

The country has so far recorded 2,535,732 COVID-19 cases with 2,365,229 recoveries and 38,164 fatalities. — with Joviland Rita/KBK/RSJ, GMA News