MANILA – Around 600,000 doses of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines from Sinovac, including those donated by China to the Department of National Defense (DND) are scheduled to arrive on Feb. 23.
“Nakaukit na po sa bato ang pagdating ng Sinovac galing China. Kasama na diyan ang 100,000 doses na donated by Chinese government sa DND,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Thursday.
The Food and Drug Administration has yet to grant an emergency use authorization (EUA) to Sinovac. “Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccines will be stored until an EUA is issued by the government. If an EUA will not be issued, the vaccines will be sent back to China,” the Palace spokesperson said.
Questions have been raised over the level of protection the Sinovac’s vaccine can provide, after researchers from Brazil released a late-stage clinical data showing the vaccine’s efficacy as lower than what has been initially announced.
While the arrival of Sinovac vaccine has a definite date, the arrival of 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine expected to reach the country later this week is slightly delayed.
“Nagkaron ng kaunting delay dahil sa processing ng mga dokumento sa COVAX facility at sa WHO (World Health Organization). But we can assure that it will still arrive this month,” deputy chief implementer Vivencio Dizon of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said.
The Philippines is one of the nations which has the most number of recorded cases in Asia but has trailed regional neighbors in securing vaccines. The country hopes to inoculate 70 million Filipinos or two-thirds of its population this year./PN
