Donated Moderna, AstraZeneca vaccines coming in June — envoy to US
MANILA, Philippines — Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines donated by the US may arrive in the Philippines as early as June, Manila’s envoy to Washington said Friday.
The donation will be coming from the US’ excess supply of at least 80 million vaccines that it committed to donating to allies and countries in need, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Romualdez said in an interview with DZMM TeleRadyo.
The White House earlier this month said 60 million of the stockpile are AstraZeneca vaccines while the remaining vaccines would be comprised of shots authorized for use in the US.
“The White House informed me that the Philippines will be included in the [countries receiving the stockpiled vaccines] and it will be delivered even earlier so maybe this June,” Romualdez said.
The envoy added that he is not yet sure how many vaccines from the stockpile will be donated to the Philippines.
In its latest fact sheet released May 8, the US Embassy in the Philippines said one in five Filipinos will receive a vaccine from the COVAX facility, to which the US is the biggest funder having donated some USD 2 billion.
As of May 25, government data shows over a million people, 0.94% of the country's population, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 since the government launched its inoculation program in March.
Officials recently walked back their previous goal of vaccinating up to 70 million Filipinos within the year to achieve herd immunity, now aiming to inoculate 50 to 60 million, with a focus on the so-called “NCR Plus 8 areas.”
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