PH to receive 3.2M single-shot Janssen vax on July 19: DOH

MANILA – Around 3.2 million doses of the single-shot Janssen Covid-19 vaccines, produced by pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson (J&J), will be delivered to the Philippines on July 19, the Department of Health said on Monday.

In a Laging Handa briefing, DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said the Janssen jabs, which was donated by the United States through the COVAX Facility, shall be used strictly to inoculate priority groups A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (adults with comorbidities) only.

“The directive from Secretary Galvez is to use the J&J largely on senior citizens since that will be very convenient for senior citizens and those residing in far-flung areas,” Cabotaje said.

Cabotaje said the J&J vaccine doses would be part of the 16 million vaccine shots that have arrived or are expected to arrive this July.

Last Thursday, 1,124,100 doses of AstraZeneca jabs donated by Japan arrived at the Villamor Airbase while on the following day, 2,028,000 more doses donated through the COVAX Facility were also delivered.

Last Friday, the Philippines also received 132,200 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, consisting of 82,200 doses of Component I and 50,000 doses of Component II. Meanwhile an additional 37,800 doses of the Russian-made vaccine-Component I arrived on Saturday night.

Also arriving this month are 938,340 doses of Pfizer jabs, the first shipment (562,770 doses) of which is scheduled on July 19 and the next batch (375,570 doses) on July 26.