Galvez on Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine
On Monday, National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr said that the Philippine government will follow up more or less 10 million doses of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine because it will “become 10 million treatments”.
Manila Bulletin reported that Sputnik V, the trailblazing COVID-19 vaccine from Russia, can be used as a “single-dose jab” in the Philippines.
Galvez revealed that the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved the application of Gamaleya Research Institute’s emergency use authorization (EUA) for the single-dose use of Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine.
During a ceremony that celebrated the administration of 30 million COVID-19 vaccine doses held in San Mateo, Rizal, Galvez said that the Philippines had ordered 10 million doses of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine which were expected to be delivered within this year.
A total of 365,000 Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine doses have already been transported to the Philippines so far.
READ ALSO: FDA OKs Sputnik Light COVID-19 Vaccine For Emergency Use In PH
“We will follow-up ‘yong more or less 10 million na doses because it will become 10 million treatments. Meaning, 10 million na tao ang makikinabang nito,” Galvez stressed.
Just like Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, Russia’s Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine will only require vaccine recipients to get one dose in order to receive its maximum efficacy.
It wasn’t yet clear whether the efficacy of Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine will be the same with Sputnik V, but Galvez said that millions of Filipinos will be saved from hospitalization and death once they received a single dose of the said vaccine.
The Department of Health (DOH) said that the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine has an efficacy of 80.6% against symptomatic COVID-19 cases.
Galvez, meanwhile, reported that more than 30 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have already been administered nationwide, marking a new milestone in the country’s national vaccination program.
For more news and updates, you may feel free to visit this site more often. You may also visit Newspapers.ph via our official Facebook page and YouTube channel.