Supply constraints will delay the delivery of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine next month, a health official said Tuesday.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, said only 2.5 million out of the expected 6 million doses will be delivered in the third week of July.
Galvez said the two-week delay would not affect the nationwide rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which a World Health Organization (WHO) official described as “remarkable,” given the global shortage of vaccines.
Sinovac has already delivered 6.5 million doses of its vaccine, more than the contracted supply of 4.5 million doses, in June alone.
Galvez told local government units (LGUs) to make sure those who received their first shots will be able to complete the full dose.
“With this development, we advise all LGUs who have Sinovac vaccines in their inventory to ensure that the allocation for the second dose should be used as the second dose,” Galvez said of the jabs administered 28 days apart.
“Let’s not use the supplies intended for second doses as the first dose to ensure the full protection of our countrymen who have already received their first shot.,” he added.
The government contracted 26 million of Sinovac doses this year.
“We ask for the patience and understanding of the public. Though we have already secured the volume needed by the country, there are still other factors that may delay production and deliveries and cause this slippage," he said.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III assured the public that the interval between the first and second dose could be from three to six months, citing the government’s vaccine expert panel.
“There’s no problem if there’s a delay. What’s important is that you get your second dose,” Duque said.
The Philippines has so far administered more than 12 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sputnik V, and Moderna.
The WHO representative to the Philippines, Rabindra Abeyasinghe, said this was a remarkable performance given the global supply shortage.
The WHO is targeting vaccination of 10 percent of the population of all countries by September, 40 percent by the end of 2021 and 70 percent by June 2022, Abeyasinghe said, adding this threshold is set for all countries, regardless of economic status.
“We believe that if we can achieve that globally, that could help to end the acute phase of this pandemic,” he said.
Duque on Tuesday urged wealthy nations not to forget about poor countries in the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, as research on booster shots is underway.
Duque, in his speech at a vaccination ceremony in Clark, Pampanga, called on the United Nations and the WHO to remind developed countries that many people across the globe remain unvaccinated.
“I don’t think this is right because there is still a big percentage of the global population that has not received even a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine,” Duque said.
The United States, United Kingdom, and European countries are among the biggest donors to the COVAX facility, a global vaccine-sharing initiative that benefits the Philippines. They are also the biggest donors of COVID-19 vaccines.
But the WHO has repeatedly criticized wealthy nations for hoarding vaccine supplies, calling the inequity a “moral outrage.”
The Philippines has so far administered 12 million of the 17 million doses in its stockpile, which is composed of vaccines from Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sputnik V, and Moderna.
As of July 4, the Philippines has partially vaccinated over 8 million people, which accounts for 8 percent of its 110 million population and 15 percent of its target of inoculating 58 million people in COVID-19 hotspots by November.
Meanwhile, another shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from Russia is set to arrive Wednesday night, the Manila International Airport Authority said Tuesday.
The shipment of 170,000 Sputnik V doses is scheduled to land at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport – Terminal 3 around 10:45 p.m. via Qatar Airways flight QR-928 and will be transferred immediately to the facility of Pharmaserv Express in Marikina City, where the vaccines will be kept under the required 18 degrees Celsius storage temperature.
This brings to five the total shipments of vaccines received by the Philippines from Gamaleya Research Institute of Russia.
The latest shipment bought by the Philippine government followed the previous 100,000 doses which arrived on June 11, also via Qatar Airways.
Four months ago, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the approval to Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use.
Russian Ambassador Marat Pavlov, said the shipments of Sputnik V vaccines would strengthen the diplomatic ties between Russia and the Philippines.
"We are ready to deliver 20 million doses of Sputnik V according to the contracts that have been signed between the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the government of the Philippines," Pavlov said.
The country is also expecting the arrival of more than 1.1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in a few days.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said some 1 million doses of British-Swedish brand AstraZeneca are also set to arrive within the week.
Also on Tuesday, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to track down those involved in the illegal sale of COVID-19 vaccines.
He pointed out that the recent arrest of Covid-19 vaccine sellers by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) shows that the confiscated vaccines were smuggled into the country and were fake.
Three suspects were arrested in an operation, while another suspect is still at large, the NBI said.
The commercial use of any Covid-19 vaccine in the country is prohibited as these are only approved for emergency use by the FDA.