12.25 M vaccines arriving in June

Duterte orders equitable distribution of jabs in the country

- MARTIN A. SADONGDONG and GENALYN KABILING

A total of 12.25 million vaccine doses against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are expected to be delivered in the country in June as the national government seeks to ramp up the immunization program, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. announced on Wednesday.

This, despite the admission of Galvez that some of the deliveries intended for the month of May were either moved next month or decreased in volume.

Nagkaroon po ng slip or mayroong hindi dumating na expected noong May (There was a slip as some of the expected deliveries in May did not arrive), said Galvez, vaccine czar and chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, during President Duterte's Talk to the Nation address.

According to Galvez, the delivery of 2.2 million doses of Pfizer vaccines from the COVAX facility that were initially set this month was moved to June 7 to 11.

The country is also set to receive a total of 4.5 million doses of CoronaVac vaccines from Sinovac with the initial delivery of one million doses arriving on June 6; while 250,000 doses of Moderna jabs will be shipped on June 21. There are also 3.3 million doses of AstraZeneca and two million doses of Sputnik V that will come but Galvez has yet to determine the dates of their arrival.

Meanwhile, the delivery of Sputnik V vaccines for the month of May will push through although the supply was decreased to only 300,000 from 1.3 million.

1,168,030 jabs in one week

Galvez also cited the improving status of the immunization program as a total of 1,168,030 jabs were administered in one week, the highest weekly tally so far. The highest daily record was logged on May 21 with 237,894 people vaccinated in a single day.