Acquired 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that will arrive on March 21 – Galvez

MANILA, Philippines – One million doses of the government-purchased COVID-19 vaccine will arrive in the Philippines on March 21, vaccine czar Carlito Gálvez Jr. said Sunday.

Gálvez reiterated that the Chinese government has also pledged to donate an additional 400,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, in addition to the 600,000 doses of CoronaVac from Sinovac Biotech that were previously donated to the Philippines.

“Meron po tayong naprocure na 1 million na darating po sa (We have obtained 1 million doses that will arrive on) March 21 and then, with the generosity of the Chinese government, we will be given another 400,000, so 1.4 million of ang darating (we have 1.4 million doses) in March ”, he said during the launch of the vaccine at the QualiMed Hospital in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

“We have already processed it, we have given the purchase order. And then our World Health Organization (WHO) also promised that there will be another 4.5 million AstraZeneca until May. So, if we compute, every month we will have 1.5 million ”, he added.

(We have already processed it, we have already given the purchase order. WHO also promised to give 4.5 million doses of AstraZeneca until May. So if we count it, we will have 1.5 million doses arriving each month).

While Gálvez did not mention which brand of COVID-19 vaccine will arrive on March 21 and the vaccines that will be donated by China, it was previously reported that he said in a CNN Philippines interview that the country will receive one million doses of Sinovac Vaccine. the “March 21 onwards”.

It also previously said that the one million doses of CoronaVac vaccine purchased could be shipped to the Philippines in the third week of March.

FDA Director General Eric Domingo previously said that CoronaVac’s efficacy rate in healthcare workers is 50.4 percent based on clinical trials conducted in Brazil, so it is not the best vaccine to administer. to first-line physicians exposed to COVID-19 patients.

He added that the Sinovac vaccine, despite obtaining an emergency use authorization from the local FDA, should only be given to clinically healthy people ages 18 to 59, citing a higher efficacy rate of 65.3 percent among people. clinically healthy within this age group. in clinical trials in Indonesia, and 91.2 percent based on clinical trials in Turkey.

JE

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