1 MILLION MORE DOSES. Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez (left) and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (right) place "Resbakuna, Kasangga ang Bida" sticker on the cargo boxes containing 1 million Sinovac’ CoronaVac vaccines that arrived on board Cebu Pacific flight 5J671 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City on Sunday (June 6, 2021). Galvez said the majority of the vaccines will be distributed in Visayas and Mindanao areas with high Covid-19 cases. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)
MANILA – The Philippines on Sunday received 1 million additional doses of government-procured vaccine to be distributed in areas with high Covid-19 cases, particularly in Visayas and Mindanao.
National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III welcomed the arrival of Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccines on board Cebu Pacific flight 5J671 that arrived at 7:22 a.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City.
Galvez, also the country’s vaccine czar, said majority of the additional batch of Sinovac vaccine will be distributed to areas in Visayas and Mindanao upon the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“The President would also like other areas especially those with high cases to be given the vaccines, like Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan and other areas like Region 6 (Western Visayas),” he said in a press briefing.
With the arrival of 1 million doses of Sinovac jab, Galvez said the government is looking to administer 4 to 5 million more doses of Covid-19 vaccine before the end of June.
“Our target for this month is to have 4 to 5 million vaccinations,” he said.
He said the government has so far administered nearly 6 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
“We have vaccinated some 5.9 million, we are nearing the 6 million mark,” he said. “This coming week, supposed to be, our target is to reach 6 million (doses),” Galvez said.
The country has so far received 9.3 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, including 6.5 million Sinovac jabs.
Galvez said more vaccines, that are set to arrive in the coming days, will be deployed to National Capital Region (NCR) Plus 8.
The NCR Plus 8 area is composed of Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, and Rizal.
Aside from China-made CoronaVac, other Covid-19 vaccine brands in the country’s inventory include AstraZeneca (UK), Sputnik V (Russia), and Pfizer (US).
Economic front-liners
Duque said the vaccination of the economic front-liners both from the private and public sectors under the A4 category beginning on Monday will help boost economic recovery.
“They are the so-called economic front-liners. So, it is very important that we start their inoculation,” Duque said.
The government is set to conduct a symbolic vaccination rollout for economic front-liners at the Mall of Asia (MOA) in Pasay City on Monday.
About 30 million Filipinos will benefit under the A4 category from June to November.
“Tomorrow there will be a ceremonial rollout of vaccination for the A4. We will start the simultaneous jabbing for A1, 2, 3 and 4, it will be held at the MOA at 10 a.m.,” Duque said.
Covered by A1 are frontline workers in health facilities; A2 -- senior citizen; A3 -- persons with comorbidities; and A4 -- frontline personnel in essential and working sectors. (PNA)
