15K more Sputnik V COVID-19 jabs arrive in Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines on Tuesday received 15,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute, boosting the country’s supply of jabs as it battles a new surge of infections.
The latest batch of Sputnik V shots, which will be used as second dose, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport past 10 p.m.
The country faced several delays in receiving much-needed doses from the Russian drugmaker. The Sputnik V jab consists of two different components of the vaccine.
The shipment raised the country’s total vaccine doses to over 51.9 million.
The Philippines also received three million more jabs made by China’s Sinovac Biotech.
In a statement, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the three million doses are specifically allocated for provinces, including Cavite and Laguna. The vaccine allocation for Metro Manila will be limited for second doses.
Vaccination updates
- Since March, 13.8 million people have completed vaccination against COVID-19.
- Meanwhile, over 19.4 million have received partial protection.
- The government is expecting to receive around 137 million vaccine doses by the end of the year, Galvez said. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
A new thread on the Philippines' vaccination program in 2021 in the government's revised objective to reach "population protection." (Main image: The STAR/Michael Varcas, file)
Starting December 1, the vaccination of employees required to work on-site will be mandatory in the public and private sector in areas with sufficient COVID-19 jabs supply.
"However, eligible employees who remain to be unvaccinated may not be terminated but they shall be required to undergo regular RT-PCR testing, or antigen tests, at their own expense," Malacañang says.
The Philippine government is targeting to administer at least 15 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines before the end of November, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. says.
The government aims to achieve 1 million to 1.5 million jabs per day starting November 20.
To achieve this, Galvez says about 4,000 to 5,000 vaccination sites would be activated, including malls, universities, schools, gyms, camps and function halls of different government agencies.
The Philippine government will start the full rollout of COVID-19 vaccination among minors aged 12 to 17 on November 5.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire says the guidelines are being drafted.
The Health Technology Assessment Council of the Department of Health recommends the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for healthcare workers by fourth quarter of this year.
The council also recommends rolling out booster shots among eligible priority groups by next year.
HTAC says the recommendations are offered "in consideration of sufficient vaccine supply and acceptable coverage for primary vaccination."
Another 2.1 million doses of Moderna and more than 661,100 doses of Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccines arrive at NAIA Terminal 1 on Friday morning.
The Moderna vaccines are procured by the government while the Astrazeneca jabs were bought by the private sector.
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