Private sector purchase of around 18 million doses of Moderna, AstraZeneca to arrive May
The National Task Force against COVID-19 on Monday said around 18 million vaccine doses from Moderna and AstraZeneca procured by the private sector are expected to arrive in May.
NTF Chief Implementer and Vaccine Czar, Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr said these vaccines are part of the tripartite deals secured with the manufacturers.
“The private sector has procured more or less 18 million and we (expect some of these orders will arrive) this coming May with Moderna and also with AstraZeneca,” he said.
Last March 18, the government and the private sector signed a tripartite agreement with Moderna for the procurement of 20 million vaccines, 13 million of which were purchased by the government and seven million ordered by the private sector.
On January 14, the government and private firms signed a similar tripartite deal with AstraZeneca to procure 14.4 million doses from the British manufacturer, which is in addition to the 2.6 million doses purchased by the private sector last November 2020.
“Our first and second quarter is really challenging. But I hope with the increasing production of the vaccine, we are very happy to say that by August we will have a landfall of a lot of vaccines,” Galvez said.
He also lauded local government units (LGUs) across the country for their efficient vaccine rollout which has resulted in the inoculation of more than a million Filipinos.
”We are very thankful, we want to congratulate our mayors, our governors, because we are already one-million-miler,” Galvez said.
“We have already surpassed 1.1 million vaccination and we are very thankful that we have more than 800,000 healthcare workers who have been vaccinated, and also the remaining with those with comorbidities and also with the senior citizens,” he added.
Starting April, the government began the simultaneous vaccination of the A1, A2 and A3 priority sectors in line with its efforts to enable the country to achieve herd immunity and offset the delays in vaccine deliveries.
The government is focusing its limited vaccine supplies in areas with the highest infection rates which include the NCR Plus Bubble, as well as Region IV-A, Region III, Cebu, Region VI, Region IX and the Davao Region. Ella Dionisio/DMS
