MANILA, Philippines – The 961,000 Moderna and 190,000 Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines procured by the Philippine government arrived in the country on Saturday, September 18, 2021.
As per National Task Force Against COVID-19, the said shipment was landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 on Saturday around 4 pm.
The national government procured about 712,800 doses, while the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) procured 248,200 doses from the United States.
A large portion of the doses would be transported to areas outside Metro Manila, such as Central Luzon and Calabarzon, Cebu, and Mindanao, according to the National Task Force against COVID-19 adviser, Ted Herbosa.
“We have started to distribute this vaccine to the other regions outside the NCR. So small portions still go to NCR, ‘yung mga second doses ng Moderna nila,” NTF special adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa said.
“Majority is going to Region III and Region IV-A. This one will also go to Visayas, Cebu, and to Mindanao as well,” he added.
According to Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr., this year, the country purchased 20 million Moderna doses, with the government acquiring 13 million and the private sector purchasing seven million, according to Galvez.
Meanwhile, before 11 p.m on Saturday, the Sputnik V shipment landed at NAIA Terminal 3.
According to Galvez, the 190,000 Sputnik V doses will be administered in Bohol, Isabela, Bacoor City, Cavite, Metro Manila, and some parts in Regions 3 and 4.
Since February, a total of 54,255,130 COVID-19 vaccines had arrived in the country. According also to Galvez, 22.7 million Filipinos have now received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 18.3 million of them have been fully vaccinated.
DOH: Vaccination Priorities
The government approved the vaccination for economic frontline workers in essential sectors (A4) and indigent Filipinos (A5) beginning of June. So far, only health workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities have undergone the vaccination program. Here are the following categories in the vaccination program.
| Category | Priority group |
|---|---|
| A1 | Frontline health workers both national and local; public and non-public; health professional and non-professional (students, nursing aides, janitors, barangay health workers, et. al) |
| A2 | Senior citizens (60-years old and above) |
| A3 | Persons with comorbidities |
| A4 | Economic frontline workers in essential sectors including uniformed personnel. |
| A5 | Indigent Filipinos |
| B1 | Teachers and Social workers |
| B2 | Other Government Workers |
| B3 | Other Essential Workers such as grocery store workers, bank workers, retail workers, mall workers |
| B4 | Socio-demographic groups at significantly higher risk other than senior citizens and indigenous Filipinos such as persons deprived of liberty, persons with disabilities, Filipinos living in high-density areas, students |
| B5 | Overseas Filipino Workers |
| B6 | Other remaining workforce |
| C | Rest of the Filipino population is not otherwise included in the above priority groups |
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