The Philippines was pushing for more Sputnik V and Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines as COVAX faced a shortfall, according to Duque.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday said that the Philippines was pushing for more Sputnik V and Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines as COVAX faced a shortfall.
In a report on GMA News Online, Duque on Friday said that the Philippines was exerting its “best effort” in order to get more doses of Sinovac Biotech’s CoronaVac and Gamaleya Research Institute’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines.
This, after the World Health Organization (WHO) disclosed that COVAX was facing a “serious challenge” in order to meet growing demand, posing a threat to the Philippines’ already scarce vaccine supply.
In an Interview, Duque told GMA News Online that they’re doing their “best effort” in order to get more Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines – 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses arriving this April and 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by May.
Earlier, Duque said that health authorities were working to fast-track the approval of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine’s use on senior citizens since the Chinese vaccine was only recommended for clinically healthy individuals aged 18 to 59 years old.
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Duque also said that vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. was negotiating with Gamaleya for 500,000 Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine doses instead of 100,000 doses.
Previously, Galvez said that the Gamaleya Research Institute was only able to commit 100,000 Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine doses after the Philippines signified interest in “more or less 3 million doses” for April and May this year.
The Philippines had so far received more than 2.5 million doses of the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines. As of March 30, 738,913 individuals had gotten their first dose while 1,344 had received both doses.
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