MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines received more doses of the vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech as the country rushes vaccinations to help fight the surge fueled by the hyper contagious Delta variant.
A total of 1,233,300 Moderna vaccine doses arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport past 9 a.m.
Of the newly-arrived shots, 863,800 doses will be allocated for the Philippine government, while 369,500 shots will go to the International Container Terminals Services Inc., which procured Moderna jabs for its employees.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the Moderna jabs will be deployed to Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Davao region, Soccsksargen. Areas that remain vulnerable to COVID-19 will also get shares of the additional shots.
The country also received 391,950 government-procured Pfizer vaccine doses on Wednesday evening.
More than 45 million doses have been administered across the archipelago, of which around 24 million were given as first doses, since the vaccination drive began in March.
Over 21 million people have completed inoculation against COVID-19. — Gaea Katreena Cabico