MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines on Friday received more doses of the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Moderna and AstraZeneca, boosting the country’s supply of life-saving jabs.
The plane carrying 2.1 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and 661,000 doses of AstraZeneca jab arrived past 9 a.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The additional Moderna vaccines were procured by the government and the private sector. Meanwhile, the new batch of AstraZeneca jabs was purchased by private firms.
“We have two brands, AstraZeneca and Moderna, coming together side by side. This bodes well for the country in our desire to aggressively ramp up our vaccination coverage,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
Since February, the total vaccine deliveries to the Philippines have reached 81.4 million doses, and are expected to hit the 100 million by the end of October.
As of October 7, the country has completely vaccinated 22.8 million people. Over 26 million Filipinos have received partial protection.