Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 15) — The country’s first single-dose COVID-19 vaccine shots will arrive earlier than expected, a Palace announcement on Thursday revealed.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said over 1.6 million doses of American firm Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine doses are expected to arrive on July 16. The rest of the 3.2 million shots donated by the U.S. government through the COVAX facility are scheduled to reach the country a day later.
The Health Department previously announced a July 19 initial arrival date.
Two more shipments of vaccines are also set to be brought in on the same dates.
Over 1.15 million shots of British-Swedish manufacturer AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine purchased by both the private sector and local government units are expected to arrive on July 16.
Another 1.5 million procured doses of Chinese firm Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine will also arrive on July 17, Roque added.
Just this afternoon, over 250,000 doses of U.S.-made Moderna vaccines entered the country.
The government has already administered over 14 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, latest government data showed. Over 10 million people already received their first shot, while more than 4 million have already been fully inoculated against the highly contagious disease.
