MANILA – The 487,200 doses AstraZeneca’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine which arrived in the country last night will be intended for the senior medical workers.
The first batch of the British-based vaccine according to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., aims to offset the limitations of Sinovac Biotech’s vaccine.
“We want to offset those limitations by having this AstraZeneca available for our senior citizens,” Galvez said in an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source on Thursday morning.
“Ang recommendation po namin sa ating mga vaccine expert ay i-consider na ito ‘yung mga primary vaccine para po sa 60 years (old) and above… ‘Yung senior healthcare workers po ito,” he added.
Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine, which reached the country on Sunday, was not recommended by the Food and Drug Administration to be inoculated to senior citizens (FDA).
Galvez said the doses of AstraZeneca vaccines were lower compared to the 525,600 doses – that should have arrived on Monday – due to cargo limitations since the products are on board a commercial flight.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, meanwhile, said there is still no timetable on when is the rollout of AstraZeneca’s vaccine since the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) will still meet regarding its intended recipient.
“Hindi pa po ‘yan ma-rollout,” Roque said in a Palace presser from Cebu City. “After mag-meeting ng NITAG (regarding the recipient of AstraZeneca vaccines), aaprubahan pa po ng (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) ‘yan.”/PN
