PFIZER IS HERE. Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Taguig Mayor Lino Cayetano, and testing czar Secretary Vince Dizon (3rd to 6th from left) witness the rollout of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines at the Lakeshore Mega Vaccination Hub on Thursday (May 13, 2021). Also in photo are World Health Organization Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe and United States Agency for International Development Philippines’ Michelle Lang-Alli (2nd and 3rd from left). (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)
MANILA – The bulk of US-made coronavirus vaccines produced by the pharmaceutical firm Pfizer-BioNTech will be arriving between May and June, according to Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., National Task Force Against Covid-19 Chief Implementer, on Thursday.
The country's vaccine czar said the Philippines may receive 2.2 million doses "later this month".
"We were informed yesterday (Wednesday) and we were asked if we could handle the 2.2 million doses and we said, yes, definitely we can," Galvez said in a press briefing during the Pfizer vaccine rollout at the Lakeshore Vaccination Hub in Taguig City.
Another two million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines will also be delivered "either June or July" through the World Health Organization and Gavi Alliance-led COVAX facility.
"Hopefully, there are more that will be coming considering that we are expecting 20 percent of our population will be vaccinated," he said.
The Philippines has secured 44 million doses from the COVAX facility.
"This pandemic cannot be solved alone by any country. It should be an alliance among countries so that we prevent the spread of this Covid-19. The COVAX facility is very instrumental in solving this pandemic," he said.
The inoculation of the priority sector under the A4 category may commence in June once the bulk of the jabs arrive, he added.
"We might be open to A4 this coming June wherein we will be having an expected 10 million more doses of vaccines," said Galvez. "But for now, considering that our vaccines are at seven million doses, we have to focus first on our healthcare workers, senior citizens, and also those people with comorbidities." (PNA)
