Philippines to get 1.12 million Astrazeneca doses from Japan tonight

Vials with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine against the novel coronavirus are pictured at the vaccination center in Nuremberg, southern Germany, on March 18, 2021.
AFP/Christof Stache

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Thursday said Japan's donation of AstraZeneca doses to the Philippines will arrive in the country tonight. 

Tokyo announced last month that it would be sending its excess vaccines to Manila, whose supply has yet to become stable.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque at a briefing said 1,124,000 doses from the Japanese government would be delivered on July 8.

The country will also receive another donation of AstraZeneca this week, or 2,028,000 doses from the World Health Organization co-led COVAX Facility. 

"We are also expecting this week the second batch of Sputnik V's Component 1 and 2," Roque added, referring to 170,000 additional purchased doses from Russia.

The arrival of more vaccines stands to be more crucial as local governments halt administering first dose due to the lack of supply. 

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. has touted the arrival of 16.2 million doses this July.

He said it would include three million doses of Johnson & Johnson's single-shot jab from the United States.

Inoculation efforts in the Philippines began in March, as the country undertook the effort to vaccinate up to 70 million this year. 

By July 7, Roque said there were now 4.41% Filipinos complete with their shots. That would amount to 3,089,976 individuals, still a small number from the government's goal in 2021.

Some 13.43% or 9,399,801, meanwhile, have received their initial shot, as the country administered 12,489,777 doses in total. 

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