Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 13) — The government has assured Filipinos who already received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine that they will be given their second shot once additional supply arrives by end-April.
“We can assure the public na iyong second dose po ng AstraZeneca darating po iyan. Nangako rin po ang COVAX [facility] na by the end of April mayroon po tayo,” Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. told a virtual briefing on Tuesday.
[Translation: We can assure the public that the second dose of AstraZeneca will come. The COVAX facility made a commitment by the end of April we will have our supply.]
World Health Organization Country Representative Rabindra Abeyasinghe has said in a Palace briefing that the delivery of the second batch of vaccines from the COVAX facility may be delayed and further reduced due to a supply shortage. Initially, 900,000 doses were supposed to arrive between March 24 and 26.
Despite the commitment, Galvez said they still formulated contingency plans in case the vaccines will not arrive on time.
The country has so far received some three million vaccine doses from Sinovac and AstraZeneca, including 500,000 vials that arrived on Sunday. Some 1.1 million individuals already received at least one dose, based on latest government data.
All vaccine deliveries received by the country already included the second dose, but the government made an exemption for supply from AstraZeneca given the commitment from the WHO and the urgency to vaccinate more individuals in the National Capital Region, the epicenter of the local coronavirus outbreak.
On the government’s vaccine procurement, Galvez said payments and deliveries of supply for the 25 million doses from Sinovac are ongoing, delivery of some 17 million doses from AstraZeneca for local governments and the private sector will start in May, while supply agreements for 20 million vials from Moderna and 30 million doses from Novavax have been signed. Other negotiations are either for signing or are still being finalized.
Meanwhile, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the list of essential economic workers who will be prioritized in the government’s vaccination program may still be revised since the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has yet to approve this.
The government started inoculating healthcare workers last month, the priority sector in its vaccination program, followed by senior citizens and those with comorbidities.
By yearend, the administration targets immunize up to 70 million Filipino with the procurement of 148 million vaccine doses.
