MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines received on Wednesday 100,000 doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine donated by the United Arab Emirates.
The shots, which are known as Hayat-Vax in the UAE, landed at 2:28 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport onboard Etihad Airways flight EY 424.
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National Task Force Against COVID-19 spokesperson Wilben Mayor said these vaccine doses will be deployed to areas experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, but did not specify further.
EUA granted for donated Sinopharm
Food and Drug Administration director general Eric Domingo told Philstar.com that they have approved the Department of Health’s application for an Emergency Use Authorization for this batch of Sinopharm jabs from the UAE.
This is the largest legal shipment of the Sinopharm vaccine to the Philippines. The jab figured in controversies in the past after some 10,000 doses of it were smuggled into the country and used to inoculate members of the Presidential Security Group.
Doses from a donation from Beijing were then used to inoculate President Rodrigo Duterte himself, even if it was yet to receive an Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA. What the FDA approved was an EUA for that specific batch of donated vaccines.
Investigations have since been launched into the smuggling and unauthorized vaccinations of Duterte's guards, but these have yet to yield any results.
A total of 22.7 million vaccine doses are expected to arrive within this month. — Xave Gregorio with a report from Gaea Katreena Cabico