The Philippines received 2 million doses of CoronaVac, the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) vaccine made by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, on Thursday, August 12.
National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. welcomed the arrival of the doses procured by the national government at the terminal two of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Parañaque City.
Galvez, who serves as the vaccine czar of the Philippines, said that 1 million doses will go to the National Capital Region Plus 8, which compose of Metro Manila, Metro Davao, Metro Cebu, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, and Rizal.
The rest of the vaccine doses will be sent to other high-risk provinces.
Galvez said that the Phillippines will receive another 4 million doses of Coronavac, and 1 million shots of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group, also known as Sinopharm, next week.
"Malaki pa talag yung mabibigay natin sa NCR Area," Galvez told reporters.
Galvez also assured that other provinces will have an equitable share of vaccines, but stressed the importance of inoculating people in the National Capital Region and other areas with a confirmed case of COVID-19 variants.
"We are racing against time. We need to vaccinate as soon as possible para at least talagang maprotektahan natin yung economic interests natin, at the same time iyong social riskkapag hindi na-vaccinate kapag hindi natin na-vaccinate yung highly-urbanized centers," Galvez explained.
"Nakita natin malaki ang magnitude at catastrophic ang effect sa ating economy at livelihood. At the same time, it will compromise yung safety ng ating majority of our population," he added.
