The Philippine government so far has secured its first 25 million doses of coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company, Sinovac Biotech Ltd., Malacañang announced during a press briefing.
“Magkakaroon na po tayo ng unang 25 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from Sinovac. Dadating na ang bakuna sa Pilipinas sa susunod na buwan,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.
[According to the Department of Health, we will have the first 25 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from Sinovac. The vaccines will arrive in the Philippines next month]
“At least, by February, 65,000 na ang mabibigyan ng bakuna (at least 65,000 will be inoculated by February),” he added.
Amid concerns over the Chinese produced drug, Roque stressed that the Sinovac vaccine is “proven safe” with 91.25 percent efficacy rate based on late-stage clinical trials.
“There’s nothing spectacular about Sinovac other than it’s been proven safe and efficient,” Roque said
He said Sinovac will deliver additional 950,000 doses of vaccines in March, 1 million doses in April, 1 million doses in May, and 2 million doses in June until all 25 million doses are delivered by December this year. By June to July, vaccines of Pfizer and AstraZeneca will arrive, the spokesman added.
Aside from Sinovac, the government has also signed deals for vaccines developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and British pharmaceutical AstraZeneca.
Roque said the priority areas for Covid-19 vaccination include Metro Manila, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Calabarzon, Davao Region, and Cebu City.
As for the priority sectors, Roque said health care workers, uniformed personnel, and indigent citizens top the list.
