Two million doses of Sinovac vaccine arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) from Beijing at 5:50 p.m. on Thursday on board Philippine Airlines (PAL) Flight PR 359.
The latest shipment came from Beijing was immediately transported to a cold-storage facility in Marikina City by refrigerated vans from the airport.
Last Wednesday afternoon, some 100,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine donated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) arrived at Naia Terminal 3 from Abu Dhabi on board Etihad Airways.
Officials from the Philippine government and UAE Embassy acting Charge d’Affaires Kahlid Alhajeri welcomed the shipment at the airport.
On Wednesday evening, the 10th batch of 800,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine arrived also at Naia from the Covax Facility in Belgium on board an Air Hong Kong DHL flight.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and US Embassy Charge d’ Affaires John C. Law welcomed the arrival of the shipment.
Of the 813,150 doses shipment of Pfizer, 607,230 doses were given to the Department of Health in Manila, while 102,920 doses were flown to Davao city Thursday morning by PAL flight PR 1813 and the remaining 102,920 doses of Pfizer vaccines were flown directly to Cebu, bringing the country’s stock of vaccines to over 42 million.
With the arrival of more vaccine brands, the Bureau of Customs-Naia continues to ensure that vaccine shipments are given priority and with expedited clearance for distribution.
District Collector Mimel Talusan said they have cleared seven vaccine brands, which include Sinovac from China, AstraZeneca from UK, Sputnik V Gamaleya from Russia, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna from US, Johnson and Johnson from Europe, and Hayat-Vax from UAE.
Customs personnel tightly guarded all vaccine shipments as these were to PhamaServ Express facility in Marikina City.30
Meanwhile, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) conducted vaccination rollout last Wednesday August 11, 2021 providing jabs to some 833 permanent and contractual personnel using Sinovac vaccines.