MANILA, Philippines — A total of 575,800 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine procured by private firms arrived Friday in the Philippines.
The shots landed at 9:35 a.m. at Terminal 1 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport onboard China Airlines flight CI 701 and were welcomed by vaccine czar Carlito Galvez and presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion.
The jabs are part of the 2.6 million doses private firms bought through an agreement with AstraZeneca and the Philippine government inked last November 2020.
Concepcion said more doses procured by private firms are expected to arrive by the end of next week.
While the shots would mostly be used for the inoculation of workers of private firms, Galvez said that he and Concepcion have agreed to share vaccine supplies.
“Just in case they need doses, the government procurement, we can give some to them,” Galvez said, noting that the government may also source doses from the private sector.
Bulk of the shots will be deployed in Metro Manila, where most of the private firms who bought the jabs are located, but some will also be allocated to Calabarzon, Concepcion said.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, taken in two doses spaced eight to 12 weeks apart, is 63.09% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infection.
The country is also set to receive Friday afternoon 15,000 doses of the second dose of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.