THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Wednesday reported it has cleared over 240 million doses of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines since the onset of the pandemic.
In a statement, the Bureau said as of March 2022, it has facilitated the expeditious release of 243 million doses of vaccines from different sources abroad.
Of the total cleared vaccines, 91 million are Pfizer, 56 million are Sinovac, 38.8 million are AstraZeneca, 34 million Moderna, 12.7 million are Johnson & Johnson vaccines. 10 million are Sputnik V, 1 million are Sinopharm and 100,000 are Sinopharm (Hayat Vax).
The vaccines against Covid-19 came from China, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Russia.
Majority of the vaccines were processed at the BOC – Port of NAIA while the rest were through the Port of Davao and Subport of Mactan in Cebu.
The BOC added that the vaccines underwent advance clearance processing to ensure their expeditious release and delivery.
Underguarding duties were also done by the BOC’s CoVax Special Handling Taskforce composed of members from NAIA’s Customs Examiners, Enforcement and Security Service, and Aircraft Operations Division.
On the other hand, it also reported that 16,142 shipments of various Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) have been processed and cleared.
The immediate clearance of PPE sets and Covid-19 vaccines was made possible through the One-Stop-Shop of the BOC – Port of NAIA, in close coordination with the Department of Health (DOH) and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. (PNA)
