The third batch of COVID-19 vaccines developed by British-Swedish company AstraZeneca was received by the Philippines on Saturday from the global COVAX facility.
A total of 2,030,400 AstraZeneca jabs arrived in Manila Saturday afternoon. This is in addition to the 525,600 doses received in March from COVAX— a global initiative led by the World Health Organization, vaccine alliance Gavi, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations that seeks member countries’ equitable access to coronavirus vaccines.
The third shipment — and so far the largest tranche the Philippines received from the COVAX facility thus far — was welcomed by officials of the Philippines’ pandemic task force, the WHO, and UNICEF.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. noted the recently-received AstraZeneca jabs will be allocated for individuals under the A1-A3 priority groups.
“We would like to emphasize that these vaccines will be given to those people who have the burden of disease and death particularly our healthcare workers, senior citizens, and those people with immune-compromised comorbidities,” Galvez said in a press briefing.
He added the vaccines will be distributed nationwide, and will also prioritize areas with higher active COVID-19 cases.
The roll-out of the vaccines will also start “immediately,” Galvez added.
“Once these are accounted for, [they] will be deployed immediately. Starting tomorrow, deployment will start,” he said.
Galvez, together with fellow task force officials, expressed gratitude for the new COVAX donation, saying that the delivery will help ease the worries of AstraZeneca vaccine recipients looking for their second dose.
