MORE than 360,000 additional Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doses have arrived in the Philippines.
Of the total 365,040 procured doses, 262,080 landed around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, August 18, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City.
Meanwhile, the 51,480 doses were delivered each to Cebu and Davao region.
According to the country’s vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the Philippines is expecting to receive 5 million more Pfizer jabs next month.
“We are expecting that Pfizer will pick up their delivery this coming September, (around) five million (doses are expected to be delivered) and we are thanking the Philippine Embassy and the American government for allowing us to access more than 65 million of these vaccines,” he said.
Galvez also said that the Pfizer vaccines will be rolled out to areas that have not yet received the American-made vaccines.
“So that in the future once Pfizer picks up their deliveries, they (health workers) are well aware and already well trained on how to handle the sensitivity of Pfizer,” he added.
In addition, Galvez confirmed that the country plans to acquire more vaccines from both Pfizer and Moderna.
“We’re exploring to buy more. But our plan is, once the majority of Pfizer and Moderna vaccine doses have been delivered, we might be concentrating on these major brands,” he said.
The Philippines has so far received over 4.5 million Pfizer doses, of which 2,472,210 doses were delivered by the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility.
In total, the country has received a total of 42,940,390 COVID-19 vaccines.
As of Aug. 16, the Philippine government has administered at least 28 million jabs, of which over 15.5 million are first doses.
The country aims to vaccinate at least 70 million individuals to achieve herd immunity.
