The Philippine government is planning to donate Covid-19 vaccine doses that are near their expiry dates to countries with low vaccine coverage, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Thursday.
“Iyong hindi magagamit at malapit nang mag-expire, ang desisyon diyan ay i-donate sa mga bansang mababa ang vaccine coverage,” Duque said in a “Laging Handa” briefing.
“At maganda naman iyang layunin na iyan para makatulong din tayo sa mga kapatid natin mula sa mga ibang bansa na namamayagpag pa rin ang Covid-19 pero ang supply ng bakuna ay kulang na kulang,” he added.
The Philippines has administered 137,351,822 Covid-19 vaccine doses as of March 9.
The doses were used to fully vaccinate 63,992,620 and partially vaccinate 62,683,539 Filipinos.
More than 10.6 million have received booster shots.
The country has been a beneficiary of donated Covid-19 vaccine doses. It has received more than 70 million Covid-19 vaccine doses donated by other countries.
The National Task Force Against Covid-19 earlier said vaccine demand in the country had started to wane, prompting the government to launch another national vaccination drive. John Ezekiel J. Hirro