By Beatriz Bernales
May 10, 2021— On Monday at 8:51 p.m., the Philippines received 193,050 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine carried by DHL flight LD457 which landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2.
Photo Source: Rappler
This is the first delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the Philippines after the 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was delayed in February as the government struggled that there is still a need to pass an indemnity agreement for the COVAX facility's COVID-19 vaccines.
This Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was delivered after the 2 million AstraZeneca doses last May 8.
However, this delivery of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine is the fourth shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility which is an initiative led by the World Health Organization, Gavi, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
"These additional Pfizer vaccines will be used on priority groups A1 to A3, who will be receiving the first dose of these vaccines," Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a joint statement released by the Department of Health, WHO, and UNICEF.
"We thank the COVAX facility and all of our partners for making this possible," he added.
These priority groups from A1 to A3, refer to A1 (Workers in Frontline Health Services), A2 (All Senior Citizens), and A3 (Persons with Comorbidities).
Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. at the meeting of the COVID task force said that some of the 1.3 million doses of this vaccine developed by the American firm will be delivered to the Philippines by the end of the month.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III also stated that these Pfizer's doses vaccines will be distributed in Metro Manila, Davao, and Cebu City, or areas that can store the product's storage requirement of -70 degrees Celsius to -80 degrees Celsius.
It is estimated that over 421,000 Filipinos have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country, including more than 1.8 million who have received their first dose.
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