PH Officially Starts Vaccine Rollout – Galvez

With arrival of 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines

- Martin A. Sadongdong, Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos, And Charissa Luci-Atienza

After months of delay, the country has officially kicked-off its national vaccination program with the arrival of 600,000 CoronaVac vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd. yesterday at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

Top government officials led by President Duterte witnessed the arrival of the Sinovac vaccines at 4:10 p.m. aboard China’s Y-20 military transport aircraft. This is the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines to be delivered to the country.

“My fellow Filipinos, we welcome this day with high hopes of finally ending the COVID pandemic in our country,” Duterte said.

“We make another step in the fight against COVID as we receive 600, 000 doses of Sinovac from the People’s Republic of China. I convey my sincerest gratitude to the Chinese people and government for this gesture of friendship and solidarity, the hallmark of Philippines-China partnership,” he added.

He thanked China’s Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian for helping to ensure the timely delivery of the vaccines.

The President assured that the government remains committed to a “timely rollout that will enable us to confidently reopen our society.”

“This delivery will serve as a guarantee to everyone that we are taking a big step in our efforts to overcome this health crisis,” he said.

The President directed concerned government agencies to institutionalize the whole-of-government approach, saying “we cannot afford to waste time or resources in the distribution of these vaccines because we are dealing with precious lives.”