MANILA, Philippines — The COVAX facility will deliver over 2 million COVID-19 shots developed by Pfizer-BioNtech to the Philippines on June 11, marking the beginning of a steady monthly supply from the global vaccine sharing initiative, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. announced Tuesday.
The delivery of 2.2 million Pfizer doses was initially scheduled for end-May but was pushed back to June.
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So far, the Philippines has received an initial delivery of 193,050 Pfizer jabs from the World Health Organization-led facility.
"This June 11, there will be 2.2 million [Pfizer vaccines] arriving in the country," Galvez said in an update delivered in Filipino aired over state-run PTV.
"They will be deployed directly to barangays in Cebu, Davao and Metro Manila," he added.
Initial Pfizer deliveries from COVAX were deployed to these same areas because they have the capacity to store them at the required temperature of -70°C.
The government expects some 10 million vaccines to arrive in June.
The country's vaccine supply will be "stabilized" by July, Galvez said, comprised mostly of AstraZeneca, Moderna, Sinovac and Sputnik V jabs.
He added that over 5 million Filipinos, of the total 110 million population, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
National Task Force Against COVID-19 deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon said the Philippines is targeting to administer four to five million vaccines this June.
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— Bella Perez-Rubio