Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. receives the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine (PCOO photo)
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez on Monday said a date had yet to be determined for the arrival of Covid-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Pfizer in the country.
The country was supposed to receive 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines today from the Covax facility. The delivery was delayed by “about a week” due to global supply issues, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
Galvez, at a media briefing after the country’s launching of its mass vaccination program at the Philippine General Hospital, said the AstraZeneca vaccines would “hopefully” arrive in the first quarter of the year.
“Wala pa pong definite date… Ang reality on the grounds, acute po ang global shortage of supply. We understand the challenge Covax is facing because they are supplying the global community. Ang pagkakasabi nila, indefinite, pero hopefully first quarter,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pfizer vaccines are expected to arrive in the second quarter.
“Ang nakikita po natin, mga second quarter. Ito iyong galing sa Covax na Pfizer na makukuha natin,” Galvez said.
The country’s health officials earlier said 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines would arrive this month. Due to the lack of an indemnification bill, however, the delivery was postponed indefinitely.
Both Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines have been approved for emergency use in the country. John Ezekiel J. Hirro