480K doses of Sputnik arriving April 29

MANILA, Philippines — The second tranche comprising 480,000 doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine will arrive in the country on April 29, accoding to Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. of the National Task Force against COVID-19.

Galvez yesterday said the Sputnik V vaccines will be arriving along with another 500,000 doses of Sinovac jabs from China.

An initial batch of 15,000 vaccines from Russia’s Gamaleya Institute is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

The vaccine czar also said that the COVAX Facility may be able to deliver 195,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of the month.

Four local government units (LGUs) in the National Capital Region (NCR) are set to receive the initial 15,000 doses of Sputnik V, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, the four LGUs were chosen by the Vaccine Cluster of the Inter-Agency Task Force to do the simulation of COVID-19 inoculation using the Sputnik V vaccines.

Galvez said that in May, two million doses each of Sputnik V and Sinovac as well an intial batch of 194,000 doses of Moderna vaccines will be delivered.

The Philippines is eyeing a stockpile of around seven to eight million doses of coronavirus vaccine in June, including 2.5 million CoronaVac, two million doses of Sputnik and 1.3 million doses of AstraZeneca procured by the private sector through a tripartite agreement.

Galvez said the COVAX Facility has possible deliveries of 2.4 million doses of Pfizer and more or less four million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from May into June.

The Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology announced Monday that Sputnik V demonstrated an efficacy rate of 97.6 percent, based on analysis of data on SARS-CoV-2 infection among those in Russia vaccinated with two doses.

“What is coming is not all of the 500,000 doses… but about 15,000 doses which will be used for the simulation in the four LGUS in the NCR,” Vergeire noted at a separate press briefing.

She added the simulation will have to be done because Sputnik V vaccines have different storage requirements compared to the vaccines of Sinovac and AstraZeneca, which are already in the country.

The simulation is expected to cover the handling, transportation, storage and actual vaccination using the Sputnik V jabs.

Earlier, the official said that not all LGUs can get Sputnik vaccines because of the different handling and storage requirements.

She said while the Russian-made jabs have to be stored in a “dark place, in a temperature not exceeding negative 18 degrees,” Sinovac and AstraZeneca vacines are kept in 2-8 degrees facilities similar to regular refrigeration.

AirAsia to transport vaccines

AirAsia Philippines has been given the green light by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to take part in the transport of COVID-19 vaccines.

The low-cost carrier said it secured regulatory approval from CAAP on the transportation of COVID vaccines packed in dry ice.

With the authorization, AirAsia targets to transport vaccines from Manila to Cebu and Davao starting this week, to be followed immediately by Clark and Zamboanga, using the Airbus A320.

Other routes eyed include Bacolod, Bohol, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, General Santos City and Puerto Princesa.

AirAsia said it is currently in talks with different LGUs in their route network to efficiently map out the deliveries.

The carrier, however, said it is also willing to mount chartered cargo flights to other destinations not presently covered by its existing route network to facilitate prompt delivery of much needed vaccines.

AirAsia Philippines is also set to inoculate more than 1,500 ground staff, pilots, cabin crew and those who have direct engagements with its guests starting next month. – Sheila Crisostomo, Richmond Mercurio