Sputnik V dose II arrive in PH; AZ as 2nd shot still on the table

MANILA – The 15,000 doses of Sputnik V’s component II that arrived in Manila on Friday will be deployed as soon as possible to those who have received the vaccine’s component I, a health official said.

“Hahanapin natin, of course, yung mga nakalista, itong nabakunahan ng Sputnik component I na kailangang kailangan nang makuha ang component II, ‘yong mga malapit na sa 42 days (We will track those who got their first dose, those who need to get the component II as soon as possible or those near Day 42),” Director Maria Soledad Antonio of the Department of Health – Bureau of International Health Cooperation (DOH-BIHC) told reporters.

The jabs, which arrived via a Qatar Airways flight, are part of the 20 million Sputnik V doses procured by the Philippine government from Russia.

The Philippines has so far received a total of 285,000 doses of component I and 80,000 doses of component II since the first shipment of Sputnik V was made on May 1.

Based on experts’ recommendations, the interval between the first and second doses of these Russian-made vaccines should be 42 days at maximum.

There is no specific date yet as to when the next batch of second doses will arrive but Antonio said the government would ensure that those who received their first Sputnik V shot would get the full protection they need against SARS-CoV-2, including using AstraZeneca shots if necessary.

“Ang same platform na tinitignan is AstraZeneca. ‘Yan lang ay kung ‘di dadating ang Sputnik component II, pu-posisyon ang gobyerno para (makumpleto) ang proteksyon ng mga nabakunahan ng Sputnik 1 (The same platform that we’re looking at is AstraZeneca, that is if component II fails to arrive on time. This is to ensure that those who received their Sputnik 1 will have complete protection),” she said.

Aside from Manila, Argentina and Guatemala have previously reported delays in the supply of second doses but the Sputnik V team assured the issue “will be fully resolved in August.”

“Sputnik V team confirms that owing to a major scale-up in vaccine production capacity, temporary second component delivery delays that occurred due to this production scale-up will be fully resolved in August,” an August 4 statement posted on Sputnik V’s website read.

The Sputnik V team said it has partnered with producers in 14 countries to double its capacity by September.

Russia has also applied for the emergency use of the single-dose Sputnik Light in the Philippines, which showed 79.4 percent efficacy against the coronavirus disease 2019 ( Covid-19), based on data analyzed by the Gamaleya Research Institute.

The Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing the application, Antonio said.