STATEMENT OF NATIONAL TASK FORCE AGAINST COVID-19 CHIEF IMPLEMENTER AND VACCINE CZAR SECRETARY CARLITO GALVEZ JR. ON THE DELIVERY OF VACCINES FROM COVAX FACILITY THIS FIRST QUARTER We are pleased to report that at least 5.6-million vaccine doses produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca are expected to arrive in the country within the first quarter of this year to jumpstart the country’s national vaccination program as part of the global efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus. Today, we received a letter from Aurélia Nguyen, managing director of the World Health Organizationled COVAX facility, officially informing the Philippine government that the country stands to receive a total of 9,407,400 doses from the two pharmaceutical makers within the projected first and second quarters of this year.
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With the country demonstrating its preparedness to receive the vaccines, the regional review committees from the WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi have granted us two vaccine brands that have been “authorized or very close to being authorized by WHO through an Emergency Use Listing (EUL),” according to the letter. In its letter, the COVAX Facility said the Philippines will receive 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. These are expected to be delivered in mid-February and will cover the first quarter supply commitment. Delivery confirmation of the supplies for the succeeding quarters will be announced later.
Likewise, the country will receive 5,500,800 to 9,290,400 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines. As the company awaits the issuance of its EUL, the “indicative” numbers of doses reflect only the supply for the first two quarters of 2021. The initial delivery is scheduled by mid to late February as stated in the letter. I would like to emphasize that according to COVAX the number of doses and the projected arrival of the vaccines are all indicative since it all depends on the global supply. The Philippine Government through its Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has earlier granted
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