8 million doses of Covaxin from India to arrive by end-May — envoy
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Ambassador to India Ramon Bagatsing Jr. on Tuesday said some eight million doses of Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine could reach the country by end of May.
The Indian manufacturer's candidate jab "Covaxin" secured emergency use approval from the Food and Drug Administration this month, joining five more drugmakers cleared by the local regulator.
In a Laging Handa briefing, Bagatsing said a tripartite deal was inked between Bharat, local governments and the private sector.
"The national government really has no participation here," he said. "They have also informed me that hopefully, the delivery will be by last week of May."
Covaxin is taken in two doses and has reported 81% efficacy rate. It is developed by Bharat under a partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Virology.
Those with a history of allergies are immune-compromised, pregnant, breastfeeding mother, have bleeding disorder, fever or other serious health-related issues are not advised to receive this.
The envoy to India cited a growing demand there to ramp up the production of vaccines, with the COVID-19 crisis reaching an alarming rate.
"With these cases, the Indian government is worried that they may be short hence they ordered to double the production of Biotech," Bagatsing said in Filipino. "The eight million that will arrive there hopefully by end of the month is already committed."
Bagatsing added that two overseas Filipino workers in India have died from the COVID-19, while 20 more are infected and are currently in isolation.
Apart from the LGU and private-sector led deal, he said 30 million doses of Covavax could be delivered by September this year. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. flew to India last month for talks with the Serum Institute, where the supply deal for this was signed.
Vaccinations in the Philippines began in March, where over 209,000 are now fully-inoculated and 1.35 million with their first dose. The national government has yet to make other final purchase deals with any manufacturer, aside from doses from China's Sinovac. — Christian Deiparine
The national government has so far secured two official deals for COVID-19 vaccine supplies in the Philippines, one with Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac and another with the Serum Institute of India.
Watch this space for bite-sized developments on the vaccines in the Philippines. (Main image by Markus Spiske via Unsplash)
Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire says the general population may now get their second booster jab.
"We're just waiting for the release of implementing guidelines, then we'll start rolling out our second booster for the general population," she says. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
Amid questions on vaccines being administered, the Department of Health assures the public all doses are safe and effective as the “process of extending shelf life goes through thorough stability studies.”
“The government ensures that every vaccine that is injected with an extended shelf life has gone through studies, and is still safe and effective against COVID-19,” it adds.
Government must increase vaccination capacity across the Philippines in anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the corona virus, Sen. Risa Hontiveros says.
She says local government units and the private sector can work together to put up more vaccination centers and deploy more vaccination teams to get more people inoculated against COVID-19.
"The active COVID cases have nearly doubled in three days. The positivity rate is almost four times the ceiling set by the World Health Organization. Huwag na nating hintayin na sobrang lumala pa ang sitwasyon bago tayo gumawa ng paraan para mapabilis ang ating pagbabakuna."
FDA chief Eric Domingo says that its agency has given emergency approval for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
The United States immunized around 900,000 children aged five-to-11 against Covid in the first week the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for them, a White House official says Wednesday.
Roughly 700,000 more have made appointments at pharmacies, White House Covid coordinator Jeff Zients tells reporters.
"The program is just getting up to full strength," he says, adding most of the shots were given in the last couple of days alone. — AFP
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