The government is anticipating more delays in the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines due to the surge in cases in India, which has experienced 1 million new cases in the last three days, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.
“Because of what’s happening in India, they have stopped their commitments to other countries. We are not the only ones facing this issue,” said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
The country’s ambassador to India had earlier said 8 million doses of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin would be delivered by the end of May, but it was unclear if this commitment would hold.
The Philippines was also expecting 30 million doses of the Novavax jab—also made in India–later this year.
Despite the warning of delays, the Palace said the supply of COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines is expected to grow “by leaps and bounds” starting in May.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made this assurance to allay concerns over delays in the delivery of vaccines to the country amid a limited global supply.
Roque earlier announced that the arrival of the first batch of Russian-made “Sputnik V” COVID-19 vaccines will not push through this month due to lack of direct flights from Russia and the sub-zero temperatures needed for the vaccine.
“Now, we don’t have enough but we expect that at the start of May, our supply will grow by leaps and bounds,” Roque said in Filipino over radio dzXL-RMN.
“We expect to receive 4 to 6 million vaccine doses this May and come July we will get almost all of our supply,” he added.
He admitted “shortfalls” in the expected delivery of more COVID-19 vaccine doses this month, but said this was only temporary.
“Do not worry, April is nearly through and we really had trouble this April with shortfalls in our expected delivery; but we will do better come May,” he added.
He also waved aside a question about mandatory vaccination, saying it was too early to talk about that while vaccines were in short supply.
Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. earlier filed a measure seeking to require all suitable Filipinos to get jabs as protection against COVID-19.
President Rodrigo Duterte, in several speeches, said he would not force anyone to receive anti-COVID-19 shots.
The Philippines aims to secure 148 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from several companies to inoculate an initial 50 million to 70 million Filipinos this year.
The DOH on Wednesday announced that 86 percent of the available doses have already been distributed, equating to 3,025,600 out of 3,525,600.
As of April 27, 2021, 6 p.m., 3,415 vaccination sites are conducting COVID-19 vaccination in various sites in 17 regions, said the DOH.
A total of 1,809,801 doses have been administered.
The DOH said 88 percent of the 1,780,400 allocated first doses have already been administered, equivalent to 1,562,815 administered doses.
They said 14 percent of the 1,780,400 allocated second doses have also been administered, equivalent to 246,986 administered doses.
An English study published Wednesday said one dose of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines reduces the chances of someone infected with coronavirus from spreading it to other household members by up to 50 percent.
The Public Health England (PHE) research found that those who became infected three weeks after receiving their first jab were between 38 and 49 percent less likely to pass the virus on to their household contacts than those who were unvaccinated.
“This is terrific news –- we already know vaccines save lives and this study is the most comprehensive real-world data showing they also cut transmission of this deadly virus,” said British Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
“It further reinforces that vaccines are the best way out of this pandemic as they protect you and they may prevent you from unknowingly infecting someone in your household,” he added.
The study drew data from over 57,000 contacts in 24,000 households in which there was a lab-confirmed case that had received a vaccination, compared with nearly one million contacts of unvaccinated cases.
In other developments:
• Google said the Philippines is among the countries that will receive COVID-19 vaccines funded by Google.org, its charitable arm. The assistance will be done through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which works with the COVAX facility and the World Health Organization to ensure equitable access to vaccines globally. Other beneficiaries include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, and Laos. “The presence of vaccines gives us hope that we may be nearing the end of the pandemic but barriers to equitable
access exist especially in low- and middle-income countries. We hope that through Google’s efforts and partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, we can help more people from countries in need to be vaccinated,” Google Philippines Country Director Bernadette Nacario said in a statement Wednesday.
* Zuellig Pharma announced that the Philippines will get 20 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc. by the middle of the year. “Our collaboration with Moderna to supply the COVID-19 vaccine in Asia reaffirms Zuellig Pharma’s commitment to help fight the global pandemic,” said the company’s chief executive, John Graham.
