VAX DONATION. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez (4th rom left) and Qatar Ambassador to the Philippines Ali Ibrahim Al Malki (3rd from left) welcome the arrival of 75,000 doses of CoronaVac vaccines donated by the government of Qatar and Sinovac Biotech at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on Wednesday (April 13, 2022). Other officials present were Department of Health Director Maria Soledad Antonio, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Alfonso Ver, and Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Undersecretary Robert Borje. (PNA photo)
MANILA -- The Philippines on Wednesday received 75,000 doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccines which will be used to ramp up the vaccination drive against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Of the 75,000 doses, 50,000 doses were donated by the government of Qatar, while 25,000 doses were from Sinovac Biotech.
"This is very important for us, considering that the President have ordered BARMM to push up the coverage of their vaccination," National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said upon welcoming the shipment.
Qatar Ambassador to the Philippines Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Malki said the donation was worth USD45,000 to help in the Philippines' recovery from the global pandemic.
"The Philippines is an important country for us, a friend country," Al-Malki said.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday expressed concern as BARMM has the lowest vaccination rate among the country's 17 regions, with only 27 percent of BARMM's target population of three million being fully inoculated against Covid-19.
"I’d like to appeal to chairman Murad (Ebrahim) to kindly give a little push for the people there to get vaccinated," Duterte said in a pre-recorded Talk to the People.
Duterte added that Galvez will fly to BARMM to oversee the region's vaccination drive.
On Wednesday, Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said a surge in Covid-19 cases is likely in BARMM due to the low vaccination rate.
Meanwhile, based on the DOH's Covid-19 dashboard, the Philippines has so far administered 142,236,006 doses of vaccines against Covid-19 as of March 30.
Of this number, 65,885,048 were used for the second dose, and 12,018,418 were for booster shots. (PNA)
