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BOC clears latest shipment of 3M Sinovac, Pfizer jabs
MANILA – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Friday reported that it has already cleared the latest shipment of over 3 million coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines that recently arrived in the country.
In a statement, the bureau’s Port of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) reported that a total of 3,074,410 doses, which arrived on Wednesday and Thursday at the NAIA Terminals 2 and 3, were expeditiously approved for release.
The first importation consisting of 111,150 doses of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccines arrived in NAIA Terminal 2 on Wednesday at around 8:30 p.m., via flight AHK457/LD457.
Upon arrival, the vaccines were immediately transferred to the designated cold storage facility pending eventual delivery to Davao via domestic flight.
On the other hand, the two shipments consisting of Sinovac vaccines and Pfizer-BioNtech arrived separately on Thursday.
The China-made vaccines landed at around 7:20 in the morning, via flight 5J 671 from Beijing, China, and were immediately brought to the Pharmaserv Cold Storage Facility in Marikina City.
The arrival of the Covid-19 vaccines was witnessed by National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.
The 1,963,260 doses of the American-made vaccines arrived around 8:30 p.m. at the NAIA Terminal 3 via flight AHK457/LD457, a load of which was escorted during transfer to the assigned cold storage facility prior its domestic flight to Davao and the rest to three different cold chain storage facilities or warehouses in Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, District Collector Carmelita Talusan attributed the successful and seamless clearance processes in handling, release, and delivery of Covid-19 vaccines to the continuous cooperation and strengthened coordination of all concerned government agencies.
For his part, Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero assured the reduced customs clearance time for sensitive shipments deemed essential in the country’s fight against the pandemic.
