VIRUS ANTIDOTE. Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. (left) and Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Marat Pavlov place a ‘ResBakuna’ sign on a crate with Sputnik V jabs at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City on Friday night (July 9, 2021). The 132,200 doses of Covid-19 vaccines delivered were all government-procured. (PNA photo by Joey Razon)
MANILA – The short shelf life of Covid-19 jabs should not be a cause for concern as the vaccines will be used before the expiry dates.
National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said with the government ramping up the utilization of the jabs, no vaccines will expire unused.
“There is no issue on the vaccines that have shorter shelf lives because we can administer them immediately. We have no problem with that,” Galvez said in a statement on Saturday.
He said local government units (LGUs) increase their vaccination rate upon receipt of supplies.
"This was the same concern raised during the vaccine deliveries in May, wherein the expiration dates of vaccines fell on June 30 and the end of July. The LGUs were able to administer the vaccines immediately," he said.
Galvez is confident the government can administer as much as two million jabs weekly.
On Thursday night, 1,124,100 doses of AstraZeneca jabs donated by Japan arrived at Villamor Airbase while on the following day, 2,028,000 more doses donated through the COVAX Facility were also delivered.
A Qatar Airways flight then brought 132,200 doses of government-procured Sputnik V vaccine on Friday night. (PNA)
