AFTER enduring criticism for being the last Asean member to obtain Covid-19 vaccines, the Philippines on Sunday welcomed the arrival of its first batch of jabs, representing China’s donation of Sinovac.
President Duterte himself led the officials who witnessed the vaccines’ arrival at Villamor Air Base, from where they were brought by a convoy of vehicles to a warehouse in Marikina. At dawn Monday, they were to be brought to pre-selected hospitals where the jabs will be administered to, among others, uniformed personnel and others on the priority list, kickstarting the national vaccination program.
The 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines were airlifted by a Chinese Xi’an Y-20 military aircraft. Also welcoming the arrival of the vaccines at the VAB were Department of Health officials led by Secretary Francisco Duque III and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr.
Duque encouraged people to have themselves inoculated with Sinovac, saying in a radio interview it is effective to protect “against severe Covid-19 infection.”
The Sinovac vaccines consist of 600,000 doses. Some of these have been reserved for military personnel and civilian employees of the Department of National Defense (DND).
The donated doses from the Chinese government are expected to benefit 300,000 people since each person will need two doses of vaccine to be inoculated from Covid-19.
In a statement, the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex) hailed the arrival. In a statement, Finex president Francis Ed Lim expressed hope the arrival of the vaccines signals the start of a “continuous flow” of vaccines, stressing that “inoculating as many people as possible at the soonest possible time will significantly boost consumer confidence and accelerate our economic recovery.”
AstraZeneca jabs delayed
The Sinovac vaccines were expected to be followed on Monday noon by 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca jabs that are part of the Vaccines Global Access (Covax) facility championed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
However, Duque confirmed late Sunday the Covax shipment was delayed by one week owing to “global supply” problems.
Locsin said the Philippines is one of 92 countries Covax-eligible to get free vaccines for 15 percent of its population, which would translate to about 15 million doses.
He said the DFA donated US$100,000 to Covax, adding the Philippines is also taking part in the Covid-19 Asean response fund, for which he said US$100,000 was donated.
“Philippine vaccine rollout is under way, first shots first week of March, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has already confirmed.”
The country’s highest envoy said the COVAX facility two could be had two ways; one, as fully subsidized, donor-funded, which in the case of the Philippines means 117,000 indicative doses of Pfizer/BioNTech and 5,500,800 indicative doses of AstraZeneca from AstraZeneca-SKBio).
The second is “Top-up doses” which are fully-paid through cost-sharing contributions.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said earlier, “This forms part of the 44 million doses of Covax to inoculate 20 percent of our population.”
Covax is being managed by Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi), a Geneva-based international public-private organization, which aims to facilitate the distribution of vaccines nationwide, particularly in poor countries in coordination with the WHO.
Inoculation begins
The government is expected to start its nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive on Monday.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine was the second product granted with emergency use authorization (EUA) by the Food and Drug Administration on January 28, 2021. Sinovac received its EUA last week, but initially drew controversy after the FDA said it was not recommended for medical frontliners who are treating Covid cases. A government expert panel subsequently declared it suitable for health workers.
PNP ready
National Police chief General Debold Sinas on Sunday gave assurances that all systems are in place for the unhampered transport of the first shipment of vaccines.
Sinas said PNP units are fully prepared to perform their assigned duties under the task organization of PNP Vaccination Plan “Caduceus.” This is the strategic plan that operationalizes all security and public safety operations for the vaccine rollout in the coming weeks.
PNP Vaccination Plan “Caduceus” set forth the security and public safety guidelines and procedures that would be undertaken by the police in support to the Philippine National COVID-19 Deployment and Vaccination Plan, as a member of the Task Group (TG) Vaccine Cold Chain and Logistics Management, Task Group Immunization Program and Task Group Demand Generation and Communication.
“We have gone through a series of planning workshops and simulation exercises to ensure organized and orderly transport of the vaccine shipment to the storage facilities and distribution hubs on D-day when the vaccine rollout shall commence,” Sinas said.
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