Gov’t on track of 170M doses of Covid-19 vaccine target

MANILA – Malacañang on Tuesday assured that the national government remains on track to meet its target to acquire 170 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from several suppliers.

Citing vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the country will have enough vaccines to inoculate around 50 million to 70 million Filipinos this year.

“Ay iyong ating target po na 170 na mga bakuna ay makukuha natin (Our target of acquiring 170 million doses of vaccines will be reached),” he said in a press briefing in Davao City.

Roque said the country’s vaccine supply includes 44 million doses from the World Health Organization’s COVAX Facility.

Under the COVAX scheme, 5.6 to 9 million doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer are confirmed for first half of the year while the remaining doses will come by the end of the year.

He expressed confidence that despite initial delays due to paperwork, the first batch of 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines will arrive in the country this month.

Apart from the vaccine supply from the COVAX Facility, Roque said the government is also expecting 25 million doses of Sinovac vaccines starting this month, 10 million to 15 million doses of Russia’s Gamaleya National Center vaccines starting April, and 30 million doses of Novavax vaccines starting May.

An additional 17 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines also in May; 20 million doses of Moderna vaccines starting July; an additional 15 million doses of Pfizer vaccines starting August; and 5 million doses of Johnson & Johnson starting October are also expected.

Roque, meanwhile, reiterated that the country is not lagging behind neighbors in its vaccination rollout since only a few countries—the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and India—have kicked off their immunization programs.

“Hindi po totoo na nahuhuli na tayo sa ating pagbabakuna. Sa katunayan, itong infographics po ay nagpapakita na ilang mga bansa pa lamang po ang talagang nagsimula ng kanilang mga vaccination plan at mga vaccination program (It’s not true that we’re lagging behind in vaccination. In fact, these infographics show that only a few countries have started their vaccination plan and vaccination program),” he said.

He acknowledged how the public may be “excited” about returning to normal activities as soon as vaccination starts, but also sought for patience amid delays.

“Ito po ay panandaliang delay lamang at inaasahan po natin sa buwang ito, magsisimula pa rin po ang ating vaccination program (This is just a short delay and we expect that this month, we will kick off our vaccination program),” he said.