MANILA, Philippines — Two million more doses of Sinovac arrived in the Philippines on Monday, bringing the total number of vaccines in the country to 56.7 million.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. was at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 to receive the vaccines, which he said is part of the purchased doses by the Philippine government.
Related Stories
Galvez said the National Task Force against COVID-19 is prioritizing regions with identified “surge areas” for the vaccines. These are Central Luzon, Calabrzon, Western Visayas, Zamboanga peninsula and Davao regions.
“The 151 highly urbanized cities are also our [part of our] priority [areas],” Galvez added in a stream posted by state-run PTV4.
The vaccine czar said this new batch of Sinovac doses are part of the 12 million expected to arrive by September. Another 10 million doses are also expected to arrive in October.
“Later, we will have deliveries of more Pfizer, AstraZeneca and also Moderna,” Galvez also said.
Vaccines from the COVAX facility, as part of the vaccine sharing initiative for lower-income countries, are expected to arrive in the fourth week of September, he added.
Latest government data showed that as of September 11, 16.73 million Filipinos have completed their vaccines while 21.89 million are waiting for the second jabs. In total, the country has administered 38,625,270 doses against COVID-19.
On Sunday, health authorities logged 21,411 new COVID-19 infections, pushing the national coronavirus caseload to 2,227,367.
The Department of Health also announced on Monday that it detected 640 more Delta variant cases. It added that the total number of Delta variant cases in the Philippines is now at 2,708. — Kristine Joy Patag