400K Moderna doses procured by private sector expiring in November

A total of 400,000 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses procured by the private sector will expire in November.

According to a report on "State of the Nation" on Thursday, the Department of Health said the expiring jabs should instead be administered as additional doses to avoid wastage.

The DOH said it will return the borrowed doses once new supply arrives.

Earlier, Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said 24,298,753 Filipinos have received full doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which is 31.76% of the country's eligible population.

The country had also administered 52.78 million doses of various vaccines versus COVID-19, including 28 million Filipinos who received the first dose of vaccines, Galvez  said.

Metro Manila remained the top region with the highest percentage of vaccinated individuals, with 80% of its population already fully inoculated against COVID-19.

The Philippines has so far recorded 2,740,111 COVID-19 cases with 2,633,039 recoveries and 41,237 fatalities.—Ma. Angelica Garcia/LDF, GMA News