THE Philippines will receive at least 5.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca through the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility within the first quarter of 2021.

The country will be provided with 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and  5,500,800 to 9,290,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Sunday, January 31.

“I would like to emphasize that according to COVAX the number of doses and the projected arrival of the vaccines are all indicative since it all depends on the global supply,” he said.

The Philippines granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) to Pfizer’s vaccine as well as AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 jabs.

“This COVAX allocation is very timely since the main recipients of these vaccines are our healthcare workers and front-liners in the different priority and affected regions,” said Galvez.

On January 20, the Philippines received confirmation of the country’s participation in the COVAX distribution of vaccines for an early rollout.

The COVAX facility is a global platform that aims to ensure fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries.

Galvez, along with Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque II, visited three cold storage facilities that can potentially be used in the first wave of the government’s vaccine rollout.

The Philippines is aiming to vaccinate 50 to 70 million Filipinos in 2021, with up to 200,000 individuals receiving jabs every day.

Galvez urged the public to “set their fears aside” and get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We are confident that with the whole nation working together, we will be able to recover our economy and bring back a greater sense of normalcy among our people,” he said.