PH to receive 4.5M more AstraZeneca vaccines by May

The Philippines is expecting 4.5 million more doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine by the end of May through the COVAX Facility.

Approximately 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are scheduled to arrive in April via the COVAX Facility.

National Task Force Against Covid-19 deputy chief implementer Vivencio Dizon stated that the WHO committed to the arrival of the 117,000 Pfizer doses in April.

Dizon mentioned that the Pfizer vaccines will contribute to the inoculation of healthcare workers, for whom some 3.4 million doses are needed.

The country has already received over 1.1 million doses from Sinovac and AstraZeneca, with an additional 2 million doses expected this month.

Once the Pfizer vaccines arrive in April, the Philippines is projected to have over 3.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for healthcare workers.

The government has not yet released a budget for vaccine purchases, as the initial doses were donations from the Chinese government and the COVAX Facility.

The budget will be released upon the arrival of government-ordered vaccines, including 1 million Sinovac doses expected this month.