UAE donated 100K Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine doses to the Philippines.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government recently donated 100,000 doses of the China-made Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines.
Manila Bulletin reported that a commercial plane from Etihad Airways delivered the COVID-19 vaccines around 1:55 pm at Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City via flight EY 424.
The COVID-19 vaccine, also known as Sinopharm-Hayat-Vax, was essentially the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine that was being manufactured domestically by the UAE government.
Based on a report, the arrival ceremony was witnessed by National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 spokesperson Assistant Secretary Wilben Mayor; Khalid Alhajeri, acting Charge Affaires of the UAE Embassy in Manila; and Department of Health (DOH) Director Ma. Soledad Antonio.
According to the NTF, the COVID-19 vaccines were separate from the one million Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine doses that will be donated by China on August 21, 2021.
In a press briefing, Mayor said that the vaccines will be very helpful for the Filipino people and thanking the UAE government for donating COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines.
Mayor also said that the vaccines will be deployed in areas that were experiencing a surge due to the spread of the Delta COVID-19 variant. He didn’t elaborate on what specific areas he’s referring to.
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According to Mayor, the Sinopharm donation was issued an EUA (emergency use authorization) by the country’s Food and Drug Administration (EUA) on August 11, 2021.
FDA Director-General Eric Domingo on Wednesday confirmed that the agency had approved the emergency use of Hayat-Vax COVID-19 vaccine manufactured in the United Arab Emirates.
According to Domingo, the FDA issued an EUA for the COVID-19 vaccines donated by UAE and the said vaccine was identical to the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine from China that was included in the WHO’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL).
The Sinopharm vaccine doses will be used for the vaccination of individuals aged 18 years old and above. Mayor also bared that the national government was planning to buy additional supplies of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine.
In addition, Mayor shared that there were already discussions to secure Sinopharm, but he didn’t divulge further information as to how many doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine the national government was planning to buy.
Manila Bulletin also reported that the latest delivery could be regarded as the first official and government-sanctioned delivery of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine doses in the Philippines.
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