MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines received Wednesday 700,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine donated by the Australian government.
The jabs landed past 9 a.m. onboard a Cathay Pacific plane at Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The vaccine shipment makes up the first batch of a total of 3.6 million shots that the Australian government is donating to the Philippines.
“This is substantial in light of the fact that we’re rolling out our booster policy,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said most of the freshly delivered vaccines will be used in the three-day simultaneous vaccination drive.
“These will be used maybe as first dose, second dose or booster,” he said.
According to Australian Ambassador Steven Robinson, the next batch of Australia’s donation to the Philippines may be delivered during the first quarter of 2021.
Since February, more than 135 million vaccine doses have arrived in the country.
Over 33.84 million Filipinos have completed vaccination against COVID-19 since the rollout began in March. Meanwhile, 42.63 million people have received partial protection. — Gaea Katreena Cabico