The Philippines will use the AstraZeneca vaccine as a 2nd dose if Sputnik V failed to deliver, according to Galvez.
On Wednesday, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr said that the Philippines will use the AstraZeneca vaccine as a second dose if Sputnik V’s second component failed to arrive in the Philippines.
Galvez said at the sidelines of the arrival of more than 800,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine that they already made an announcement that they can use AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as a second dose in case Sputnik V wasn’t able to deliver.
According to Galvez, they’re expecting 15,000 doses of Sputnik V’s second component or its second dose to arrive in the Philippines on August 13, 2021. Unlike other COVID-19 vaccine brands, the Russian-made vaccine had different components for its first and second dose.
When asked about the delay of the second dose of the said vaccine, Galvez said that there were issues with the production and supply of the second dose.
READ ALSO: FDA Evaluating EUA Application For Sputnik Light COVID-19 Vaccine
The latest shipment of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines was in July 2021, wherein 37,800 doses of the said vaccine were delivered from Russia.
Last month, health authorities discussed a plan to study COVID-19 vaccine mixing. GMA News Online reported that COVID-19 vaccine brands included in the mix and match trials were Sinovac, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Sputnik V.
Meanwhile, FDA Director-General Eric Domingo said during President Rodrigo Duterte’s weekly “Talk to the People” briefing last Monday that Gamaleya had applied to the Philippine Food and Drug Administration for the emergency use authorization (EUA) of its single-dose Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine and was being studied by the country’s vaccine experts.
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