ONE hundred thousand doses of Sputnik V vaccine arrived at the premier airport Friday night, the fourth shipment from Russia, bringing the total jabs from that country to 180,000.
The country earlier received two batches of 15,000 doses each of the vaccine manufactured by Gamaleya Research Institute on May 1 and 12, while 50,000 doses arrived last May 31, 2021.
Friday night’s shipment came from Moscow via Doha, Qatar, onboard Qatar Airways.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Russian Ambassador Marat Pavlov and other government representatives welcomed the arrival of the shipment at almost 11 pm Friday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The shipment was immediately transported to PharmaServ Express cold storage in Marikina City to be distributed to hospitals with many Covid-19 cases.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said recently that the vaccines will be deployed to “centers of gravity” or areas throughout the country that are experiencing surges in Covid-19 cases.
According to Ambassador Pavlov, the arrival of Sputnik V vaccines will boost the diplomatic ties between Russia and the Philippines as they mark the 45th anniversary of the start of bilateral relations.
“We are ready to deliver 20 million doses of Sputnik V according to the contracts that have been signed between the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the Government of the Philippines,” Pavlov said recently.
The Russian-made Sputnik V vaccines require a cold-chain storage of minus 18 degrees Celsius.
Customs district collector Mimel Talusan said the One Stop Shop of the bureau immediately cleared and released the shipment after representatives from Food and Drug Administratin (FDA) presented in advance documents of the Sputnik V vaccines.
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