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President Rodrigo Duterte witnessed on Monday the arrival of one million doses of China's Sinovac vaccine, which the government purchased for P700 million.

Duterte was accompanied by National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr., Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, and Senator Christopher "Bong" Go in welcoming the arrival of the vaccine doses at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City. Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian was also present.

In a televised press briefing hours before the arrival of the vaccine, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the government paid P700 million for the one million doses of Sinovac vaccine.

He said the Chinese brand could not be used yet on senior citizens since based on the emergency use authorization given by the Food and Drug Administration, it is only good for healthy individuals 18 years old to 59 years old.

"Bulk of that (Sinovac vaccine) will go to NCR (National Capital Region) Plus, Cebu, and Davao and this will be used to health professionals and to those who have comorbidities," he said.

The Plus refers to Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal, which along with Metro Manila, are under enhanced community quarantine due to high cases of COVID-19.

Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease is also eyeing to use Sinovac vaccine to A4 priority list or the frontline personnel in essential sectors, including uniformed personnel.

The one million CoronaVac vaccine doses are part of the total 25 million doses procured by the national government from Sinovac .

Huang, in a statement, said the "safety and effectiveness" of Sinovac are earning growing confidence among the Filipinos, making it the mainstay of nationwide vaccination in the country.

He said more Chinese vaccines will come soon as expected to help the Philippines defeat the virus and normalize its economy.

"It’s always believed by the Chinese people that, 'Friendship based on selfish interests will perish soon, while friendship based on mutual goodwill and assistance will last a lifetime'. Facing the pandemic once seen in a century, let’s hold the torch of solidarity and cooperation to light the way forward and brace a brighter future of our two countries in the post pandemic world," he said.

Some Filipinos have raised concern on the efficacy of Sinovac vaccine. Celerina Monte/DMS