1.5M Sinovac doses boost PH vax drive

MANILA – The road toward population protection just got wider with the arrival of 1.5 million doses of government-procured Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine on Saturday.

Department of Health’s Dr. Ariel Valencia, the Director for Supply Chain Management Service, said the new supply will be distributed nationwide for second-dose rollout.

One million doses of Sinovac also arrived three days earlier as the country upped to 14.5 million the total doses of Sinovac, including those donated by the Chinese government and procured by the private sector and local government units.

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said 16,790,240 doses will be delivered this month and another 16,570,000 in August.

On July 15, a record-high 391,283 doses were administered that brought to 14.4 million the total doses already injected — 10.1 million first shots and 4.3 million second shots.