“We know na very limited ang supply [of vaccines] for quarters one and two. Kaya natutuwa kami na continuous ang supply from Sinovac,” vaccine czar Calito Galvez Jr. said in a statement.
According to Galvez, the “strong diplomatic relations” between President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping was a key factor in the successful negotiations with Sinovac.
All of the half a million CoronaVac doses will be deployed to all targeted implementing units within three days and will be administered during a one-week period, Galvez said.
He added that the delivery of the new supplies will be “focused on Metro Manila and other high risk areas”.
Galvez said 100,000 doses were allocated for Metro Manila, while the rest of the supply will be deployed in other areas that are experiencing a surge in COVID 19 cases, as well as economic centers.
These high-risk areas include cities and provinces in the ‘NCR Plus’ bubble, and select areas in Regions IV-A, III, II, XI, VI, VII, and CAR.
“Ang focus natin ay doon sa mga areas na tumataas ang mga kaso kung saan prayoridad natin ang A1 to A3. Kailangan bigyan sila ng agarang proteksyon para maiwasan ang burden of death and disease,” Galvez said.
“We aim to achieve herd immunity in areas with a high attack rate, specifically in Metro Manila by October or November. This is also our commitment with the NITAG (National Immunization Technical Advisory Group),” he added.
To date, a total of 3 million Sinovac vaccines have been delivered to the country.
Prior to the delivery of the procured CoronaVac vaccines, the Chinese government had donated 1 million doses to the Philippines, which were shipped to the country in two batches last February and March.
Last April 11, half a million doses were also delivered in the country. The remaining doses committed for the month by Sinovac will arrive on April 29.
