QUEZON CITY, Mar. 5 (PIA)--The arrival of the 487, 200 doses of Astra Zeneca vaccine marks the Philippines' initial delivery of vaccines as the first consignment from the COVAX facility and one of the largest consignments of COVAX vaccines.
SK Bioscience from Seoul, South Korea, manufactured the said vaccines, said Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, World Health Organization (WHO) country representative, in an interview in the March 4, 2021 episode of the Department of Health’s (DOH)-Beat COVID-19 Media Forum.
Dr. Abeyasinghe also announced that WHO already committed to the COVAX facility to deliver 4.5 million doses by May. However, the exact schedule is not yet identified due to some initial problems in setting up mechanisms and deliveries. He emphasized the need for the country to set up its capacity to manage this large stock of vaccines coming in.
WHO said the Philippine government needs to demonstrate that they can roll out the vaccines efficiently to continue receiving vaccines from the COVAX facility. The Philippines should minimize wastage of the vaccines and use them according to WHO's priority list. Accordingly, initial delivery from COVAX facility to protect the 1.8 million health care workers identified in the first phase of the vaccination roll out.(MBP/PIA-IDPD/DOH).
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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