First batch of Sputnik V vaccines to be used in vaccination centers in 5 Metro Manila cities
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s initial doses of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine will be used in several hospitals and vaccination centers in five Metro Manila cities, the Department of Health said Monday.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the following hospitals and inoculation facilities will get the first 15,000 doses of Sputnik V to inoculate healthcare workers and people with comorbidities:
Makati
- Makati Coliseum
Taguig
- Lakeshore Vaccination Hub
Parañaque
- Ayala Malls Manila Bay
Manila
- Sta. Ana Hospital
- Ospital ng Maynila
Muntinlupa
- Ospital ng Muntinlupa
- Asian Hospital Medical Center
The first batch of Sputnik V jabs, which arrived last Saturday, will be used in a “pilot run” to assess the country’s logistics capability to handle highly-sensitive vaccines. Sputnik V jabs need to be stored at -18 °C and be kept as a frozen solution.
In a briefing, Vergeire said it was the first time that the Philippines has received a vaccine with this kind of storage requirement.
“We will look at [the sites’] experience and improve what needs to be improved,” Vergeire said in a briefing.
The remaining 485,000 doses are expected to arrive within the month.
The country’s Food and Drug Administration approved Sputnik V for emergency use in March, clearing it for use on individuals aged 18 and above. It has an efficacy rate of 91.6%, according to a peer-reviewed late-stage trial result published in The Lancet medical journal.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government has secured 10 million doses from the Russian manufacturer.
The Philippines has so far received over 4 million vaccine doses, a bulk of which were from China’s Sinovac.
Since the start of the country’s vaccination program in March, only 284,553 individuals have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a far cry from the government's target of 70 million by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, 1.65 million people have received their first dose of either the AstraZeneca or Sinovac vaccine. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
The national government has so far secured two official deals for COVID-19 vaccine supplies in the Philippines, one with Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac and another with the Serum Institute of India.
Watch this space for bite-sized developments on the vaccines in the Philippines. (Main image by Markus Spiske via Unsplash)
Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire says the general population may now get their second booster jab.
"We're just waiting for the release of implementing guidelines, then we'll start rolling out our second booster for the general population," she says. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
Amid questions on vaccines being administered, the Department of Health assures the public all doses are safe and effective as the “process of extending shelf life goes through thorough stability studies.”
“The government ensures that every vaccine that is injected with an extended shelf life has gone through studies, and is still safe and effective against COVID-19,” it adds.
Government must increase vaccination capacity across the Philippines in anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the corona virus, Sen. Risa Hontiveros says.
She says local government units and the private sector can work together to put up more vaccination centers and deploy more vaccination teams to get more people inoculated against COVID-19.
"The active COVID cases have nearly doubled in three days. The positivity rate is almost four times the ceiling set by the World Health Organization. Huwag na nating hintayin na sobrang lumala pa ang sitwasyon bago tayo gumawa ng paraan para mapabilis ang ating pagbabakuna."
FDA chief Eric Domingo says that its agency has given emergency approval for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
The United States immunized around 900,000 children aged five-to-11 against Covid in the first week the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for them, a White House official says Wednesday.
Roughly 700,000 more have made appointments at pharmacies, White House Covid coordinator Jeff Zients tells reporters.
"The program is just getting up to full strength," he says, adding most of the shots were given in the last couple of days alone. — AFP
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