MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines on Thursday received another one million doses of Sinovac as authorities seek to improve vaccinations amid the threat of the more infectious Delta variant.
A Philippine Airlines plane landed at the NAIA Terminal 2 in Pasay past 7 p.m. of August 5, per state-run PTV.
Data from Philstar.com research showed the delivery brought the country's supply of Sinovac doses to 20.5 million to date.
Some 18.6 million of that figure were purchased by government, while 500,000 were by the private sector.
The country received three shipments of vaccine supply this week. Apart from Sinovac tonight, that would be donations of over 415,000 AstraZeneca doses from the United Kingdom, and more than three million Moderna doses from the United States.
Vaccinations at home proved to be more crucial as health officials report more cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19. On Thursday, there were 116 additional infections that pushed the total to 331.
It appears, however, that supply of the jabs isn't so much of the problem these days but on its rollout.
Crowds flocked to inoculation sites in cities today after false information circulated that only vaccinated individuals would receive financial aid from government.
Metro Manila, home to 13.4 million people, will return to stricter lockdown beginning Friday, August 6, that would stretch to August 20.
Administration officials have since sought to dispel rumors, calling it "fake and baseless" and directing the National Bureau of Investigation to probe its source.
The health department has said vaccinations will continue during the enhanced community quarantine period.
But it added only senior citizens would be allowed for walk-ins. Others have to go through pre-registration and scheduling from their local governments.
By August 4, government figures showed there are now 14.69% or 10.28 million Filipinos complete with their COVID-19 shots.
While inoculations have picked up pace, that number is out of officials' target of up to 70 million this year to meet herd immunity.
Some 17.44% or 12.20 million, meanwhile, have received a first dose, with 22.48 million doses in the country since administered. — Christian Deiparine, with reports from Philstar.com intern Siegfred Aldous Lacerna