MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines on Tuesday received 15,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute, boosting the country’s supply of jabs as it battles a new surge of infections.
The latest batch of Sputnik V shots, which will be used as second dose, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport past 10 p.m.
The country faced several delays in receiving much-needed doses from the Russian drugmaker. The Sputnik V jab consists of two different components of the vaccine.
The shipment raised the country’s total vaccine doses to over 51.9 million.
The Philippines also received three million more jabs made by China’s Sinovac Biotech.
In a statement, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the three million doses are specifically allocated for provinces, including Cavite and Laguna. The vaccine allocation for Metro Manila will be limited for second doses.
Vaccination updates
- Since March, 13.8 million people have completed vaccination against COVID-19.
- Meanwhile, over 19.4 million have received partial protection.
- The government is expecting to receive around 137 million vaccine doses by the end of the year, Galvez said. — Gaea Katreena Cabico