No rollout date yet for AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, according to Nograles.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said that there’s no rollout date yet for the initial 487,200 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses that were expected to be delivered to the Philippines on Thursday night.
In a report on GMA News Online, Nograles said at a press briefing that they’re waiting for the recommendation of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) on which sector the said vaccines could be best utilized.
“We are waiting for the advice of the NITAG kung saan gagamitin ang AstraZeneca vaccine, kung puwede sa senior citizens na health workers. We are consulting with NITAG because Sinovac is only recommended for 18 to 59 years old and there are doctors, nurses who are aged 60 and above,” Nograles said.
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Nograles was referring to the 600,000 doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine which were donated by the Chinese government to the Philippines which arrived last February 28 and was currently being used in the Philippine government’s inoculation program.
The vaccination rollout commenced last March 1, 2021, and Nograles said that at least 189,000 Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine doses had been delivered across the country.
According to Nograles, the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group was having a meeting about it and they expected to get their recommendation very soon because they would like to immediately rollout the vaccines.
Under the NITAG recommendation, health workers and employees in health care facilities were the first in line to get vaccinated, followed by indigent senior citizens.
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