The country would receive “more than enough” doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, Philippine Ambassador to Washington said Monday.
In a television interview, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez confirmed the statement of National Task Force against Covid-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. that the Philippines will have a generous supply of vaccines in the next couple of months.
“Yung unang dating na-delay lang ng konti pero starting July, August, tuloy-tuloy na talaga ‘yan, Nagkaroon lang nang problema dun sa storage facility at dun sa kanilang transportation diyan (There was a slight delay in the first delivery but starting July, August, it will really be continuous. There had been a problem with the storage facility and the transportation),” he said.
Romualdez said an estimated 300,000 doses of Moderna vaccines, out of the 20 million ordered, will arrive at 11 p.m. on June 27.
Of the 20 million, he said 7 million doses were procured by the private sector.
Earlier, Galvez said the arriving vaccine supply will be spread out nationwide especially in areas with a high number of Covid-19 infections.
“Yung Moderna, matagal na natin trinabaho yan…nag-combine tayo sa private sector, iyan ang tinatawag na (We have been working on the Moderna [vaccines] for a long time with the private sector through the) tripartite agreement between private sector and the government. It has been very effective because all the private sectors who wanted to get Moderna have signed up for it,” Romualdez said.
He added they have already sent the airway bill and documents needed to ensure the quick release of the vaccines.
Since concerned government officials are in constant talks with the US, Romualdez said it is giving the Philippines priority in securing Moderna vaccines.
He also said the country would benefit from the 500 million doses of vaccine stockpile that the US has committed to the world.
So far, the country has secured 113 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines — 26 million from Sinovac, 10 million from Gamaleya Institute, 20 million doses from Moderna, 17 million doses from AstraZeneca, and 40 million doses from Pfizer.
Source: Philippines News Agency
