Philippines remains focused in goal of achieving herd immunity – Go

MANILA, Philippines — Government’s battle against the pandemic remains focused on the goal of achieving herd immunity by trying to secure more COVID-19 vaccines amid limited supply in the world market, an administration senator said yesterday.

Sen. Bong Go said the Philippines has so far managed to secure an ample amount of doses for its initial vaccine rollout for medical frontliners.

Citing the latest report of vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., he said the country is expecting next week’s arrival of around 400,000 doses of Sinovac donated by China plus one million more doses of the same purchased by the government.

This would add to the first 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines donated by the Chinese government and the 525,600 AstraZeneca jabs that arrived in the country through the COVAX facility.

“We also expect anytime soon the arrival of 979,200 AstraZeneca doses,” Go said. “The steady supply of vaccines will provide us with more than 3.5 million doses, enough to inoculate our 1.7 million health care workers towards the second quarter of 2021.”

“In our vaccine rollout, we have to begin with our medical frontliners because we’re sending them off to battle this (pandemic) so it’s necessary to give them the protection and weapons they need,” Go said.

By prioritizing the inoculation of health workers, government is ensuring a stable health care system the nation can count on, the senator explained as he urged the public not to grow impatient.

He said Galvez is expecting to get around three million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as soon as negotiations successfully conclude with Gamaleya of Russia, maker of Sputnik V jabs which recently gained emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Aside from these, Go said there will be more deliveries of vaccines from Sinovac, Moderna, Novavax, AstraZeneca and other sources by the middle of this year pursuant to the National Vaccine Roadmap.

“Rest assured, there is no delay in our vaccine rollout. We are simply complying with the necessary processes, aligned with the agreed schedule, as negotiated with our international partners,” he said.

The senator, one of the closest allies of President Duterte, shunned critics who have undermined the administration’s national vaccination program, saying this is not the time for blaming and pointing fingers.

“As the President has said, ‘No Filipino must be left behind towards recovery’,” Go reiterated. “Let’s support our government and trust the vaccines. This is the key towards restoring life to its normal course.”