MANILA – The country is set to launch its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination drive on Feb. 15 according to Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday.
Palace said the country’s first COVID-19 vaccine batch will arrive in “mid-February” from the COVAX Facility, which seeks to ensure equitable access to the drug.
“Ilang tulog na lang, mga kaibigan, at dadating na ang unang batch ng ating bakuna. Ready or not, handang-handa po ang ating gobyerno para magsimula ang ating vaccination drive itong a-15 ng Pebrero,” said Roque.
He said it will only need a day or two to start the vaccination upon the arrival of the vaccines, stating it is just a matter of when the plane carrying the Pfizer vaccines will actually land in Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
President Rodrigo Duterte will be among the first to take the COVID-19 vaccine jab since senior citizens are among the priorities for inoculation according to Roque.
“The President will enjoy the priority dahil nga po siya ay senior citizen. Importante rin magpabakuna siya for vaccine confidence, inaasahan natin siya ang isa sa mauuna. Whether it will be done publicly or in private is his decision,” he said.
The country is set to get ten million doses of COVID-19 vaccines under the global alliance COVAX Facility in the first quarter, including 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine expected to arrive by the third week of February.
According to Roque, all 117,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility will be given to 50,000 doctors because they are first in the priority list.
The government is eyeing to vaccinate 70 million Filipinos against COVID-19 this year as the country is assured of 148 million vaccine doses from seven companies namely Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinovac, Astrazeneca, Novovax, Johnson and Johnson, Gamaleya and Bharat BioTech./PN
