National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. (PNA file photo)
MANILA – The country is expecting another 1.4 million doses of CoronaVac vaccines this month, National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Sunday.
"Meron po tayong na-procure na 1 million na darating po sa March 21 (We have procured 1 million doses of vaccine which will arrive on March 21) and then with the generosity of the Chinese government, another 400,000 will be given to us," Galvez said during the Covid-19 vaccination rollout at Qualimed Hospital in Santa Rosa City, Laguna.
He said the government has already processed the required documents for the arrival of the vaccines produced by China's Sinovac Biotech pharmaceutical company.
Aside from the CoronaVac jabs, the country is slated to receive around 4.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines through the COVAX Facility, to be delivered until May.
Between March to May, the Philippines will receive around 1.5 million doses each month, Galvez said.
Various hospitals nationwide are conducting the vaccination of their healthcare workers, inoculating an average of 10,000 to 15,000 individuals daily.
"Ngayon po halos 100 hospitals na po ang naserbisyuhan natin (So far we are serving almost 100 hospitals)," he said.
Galvez assured of an equitable distribution and deployment of Covid-19 vaccines nationwide.
"Our priority for the vaccination, so far, are the Covid-19 referral hospitals, public hospitals, and private hospitals," he added.
Qualimed was the first hospital in the country to receive the initial batch of AstraZeneca vaccines. Around 300 healthcare workers were inoculated.
Testing czar Vince Dizon also witnessed the event. (PNA)
