Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) — President Rodrigo Duterte will also personally welcome the arrival of the first batch of vaccines from the United Nations-backed COVAX facility even if it remains uncertain when it will reach the Philippines.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in his briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday that Duterte will be “on standby” to receive the 525,600 doses which were supposed to be shipped on February 28. He is set to discuss the matter with Cabinet officials on Wednesday.
“Bukas po Wednesday, merong full Cabinet meeting. Bukod po diyan, he’s on standby to be at the airport to receive the delivery of COVAX, AstraZeneca kung kailan ito mangyayari,” he said.
[Translation: Tomorrow, Wednesday, there will be a full Cabinet meeting. Apart from that, he is on standby to be at the airport to receive the delivery of COVAX, AstraZeneca, depending on when it is set to happen.]
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said there is no assurance when the AstraZeneca doses will be delivered, but National Task Force Against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon said these can still be expected within the month despite issues on supply shortage.
COVAX is a global initiative co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). It aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and ensure equitable access to every country in the world. The Philippines is set to receive 5.5 million to 9.2 million doses from AstraZeneca.
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On Sunday, Duterte himself welcomed the first shipment of 600,000 vaccines donated by Chinese drugmaker Sinovac Biotech, a move which Malacañang earlier described as a show of “debt of gratitude” for coming to the Philippines’ rescue.
The Philippines then kicked off its first vaccination drive the following day in various government facilities, with health workers first on the priority to get the shots legally. Prior to the official vaccination rollout , it was admitted that some officials and members of the Presidential Security Group jumped the priority line and used smuggled vaccines made by China state-owned Sinopharm as early as last year.
