President Duterte welcomed the arrival of more than 3 million US-donated Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses
On Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte welcomed the arrival of more than 3 million Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the United States, which the President said would be used to inoculate the poor.
Speaking during the arrival of the US-donated COVID-19 vaccine doses at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, the President expressed his gratitude to the United States and the COVAX facility for the latest COVID-19 vaccine shipment.
“I wish to thank the United States for the generosity in sharing various COVID-19 assistance to the Philippines. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the COVAX facility for the continuous donation of these vaccines. We look forward to the delivery of even more life-saving vaccines in the country very soon,” President Duterte said.
President Duterte also said that the Philippines was equally grateful for the donations of key medical equipment and supplies and the provision of institutional support to the national government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. He also noted that the aid will greatly help the Filipino people.
The President stressed that the cooperation between the Philippines and the United States in overcoming the coronavirus pandemic highlighted the strong and deep friendship between the two countries, adding that the national government’s next focus was to safely bring the COVID-19 vaccine doses to the people.
Underscoring America’s sentiment that the latest COVID-19 vaccine donation to the Philippines should go first to those who have least in life, President Duterte made an assurance that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses will go to the arms of the poor ones who can’t afford vaccination.
“And for those, well, who do not want to be vaccinated, we will try to entice them with the vaccines given by the United States,” President Duterte said.
READ ALSO: Philippine President Duterte Thanks US President Biden For COVID-19 Vaccines
On Monday, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said that the Philippines had so far received a total of 34.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses and expected to get 22.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for the month of August.
In order to meet the growing monthly demand for COVID-19 vaccines in the regions and provinces across the Philippines, Galvez said that the national government must strive to deliver 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses monthly.
Galvez, who was also the chief implementer of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF COVID-19), also reported that more than 9 million Filipinos were already fully protected against COVID-19 as a result of the country’s aggressive COVID-19 vaccination program.
He added that the Philippines had administered 20.8 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, in which more than 11 million Filipinos have received the first dose, while 9.1 million Filipinos have completed the two doses.
This made up 12.87% of the targeted eligible population or 8.21% of the entire Philippine population.
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