PH secures 25M Sinovac vaccine doses

The Philippines has secured 25 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the Chinese firm Sinovac, with the first batch expected in February.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced that the first 50,000 doses will arrive in February, along with 15,000 doses for Sinovac's clinical trials in the country.

This means that at least 65,000 individuals will be inoculated by February.

The Sinovac vaccine has a proven safety and efficacy rate of 91.25 percent based on late-stage clinical trials.

Additional Sinovac deliveries include 950,000 doses in March, 1 million each in April and May, and 2 million doses in June, with the remaining doses to be delivered by December.

These Sinovac doses will complement vaccines procured from British firm AstraZeneca.

The Philippines aims to vaccinate 50 to 70 million Filipinos against COVID-19 this year.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. expressed hope that deals with vaccine suppliers would be finalized within January.