Philippines receives more than 455,000 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

The Philippines received on Wednesday a total of 455,130 doses of government-procured Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine through the World Bank.

According to the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, the latest batch of vaccine doses landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 past 9:30 p.m.

NTF Against COVID-19 medical consultant Dr. Ma. Paz Corrales said the fresh batch of Pfizer vaccine doses would be used for the inoculation of the adult population.

Corrales said the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines for minors aged 5 to 11 are scheduled to arrive in the coming days.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier said that around 780,000 doses of the Pfizer anti-COVID vaccine earmarked for minors aged 5 to 11 are scheduled to arrive in the Philippines on Thursday.

Malacañang announced that the vaccination of the 5 to 11 age group will be rolled out in various vaccination sites in Metro Manila on Friday.

According to the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC), the country has administered a total 127,163,606 of COVID-19 vaccine doses nationwide as of February 1.

The NVOC said at least 60,466,380 first doses have been administered, while 59,120,367 individuals were fully vaccinated and 7,576,859 were booster shots.

The Philippines started its vaccination program in March last year.  -- BAP, GMA News