Philippines foresees 4 vaccines against coronavirus in the first quarter of 2021

MANILA – The Philippines is considering using 4 vaccines against the new coronavirus for the first 3 months of 2021, Malacañang said on Thursday, even as the country has yet to receive requests for emergency vaccine use for the drug.

The 4 vaccines the Philippines expects to use in the first quarter of 2021 are from Russia’s Gamaleya Institute and China’s Sinovac, Sinopharm and CanSino, said presidential spokesman Harry Roque.

By the second quarter, the Philippines expects to obtain its supply of the vaccine from the British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca, of which 2.6 million doses have been secured by the private sector, Roque said.

COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Covax, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and Moderna will arrive in the third quarter, he told reporters in an online briefing.

Roque’s statement comes as Health Secretary Francisco Duque III faced accusations that he had “dropped the ball” in the supply negotiation with Pfizer, allegedly delaying 10 million doses of the vaccine that the Philippines could receive in January. .

So far, no drug manufacturer has applied for emergency use approval for its COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines, the Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday.

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“Your assessment, evaluation and monitoring [ng vaccine], continuing with naman po iyan. But in planning, we are still there until 2021, and then we are in the preparation stage, ”said Roque.

(The evaluation, evaluation and follow-up of the vaccine continues. But the planning, we will be in that stage until 2021. We are also in the preparation stage).

The vaccine distribution will prioritize areas with a high number of COVID-19 cases. Of these areas, the indigent, vulnerable sectors, health workers, soldiers, police and other vanguard will be targeted, he said.

Local governments are preparing for the following, in coordination with the health and interior departments, and the National Task Force against COVID-19, Roque said.

The Philippines has tallied about 452,000 coronavirus infections as of Wednesday.