Flight issues delay Moderna jabs arrival by four days

MANILA – Logistical challenges will delay anew the arrival of some vaccine supplies next week.

National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Friday that the supposed arrival of 150,000 doses of private sector-procured Moderna vaccines on June 21 has been moved to June 25.

He said the delays are unavoidable but are just minimal setbacks in the national vaccination program.

In the case of the Moderna shipment, Galvez said flight schedules caused the change in the arrival date.

“Only four days delayed and normal naman talaga ‘yan sa lahat ng vaccine na nagkakaroon ng tinatawag nating mga delay na hindi natin maiiwasan (it’s normal with all arriving vaccines to have such unavoidable delays),” Galvez said.

Moderna vaccines require a stable temperature between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius and cold-storage facilities are ready for next week’s shipment, Galvez assured.

For the rest of June, the country will receive 2.5 million doses of Sinovac, 150,000 doses of Sputnik V, and 2,028,000 doses of AstraZeneca from the COVAX Facility.

Vaccine donations from various countries may also arrive this month, Galvez added.

China, the United States, Japan, and Australia all committed to donate vaccines to the Philippines.