BALANGA CITY—Bishop Ruperto Santos of the Balanga Diocese on Friday (Feb. 19) appealed to Filipinos to be patient in the face of possible delays in arrival of vaccines for SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
“We need a big deal of patience. Patience is one of natural traits of Filipinos,” Santos said in a statement.
He said the public must refrain from complacency and continue to heed health protocols to avoid infection. These included wearing masks and keeping a safe distance from one another.
“Let us wait for vaccines patiently and pray always that vaccine will come,” the church leader said.
“Right now, as we look forward for vaccines, let us always keep ourselves safe and strong. Turn to God and trust Him,” he said.
From 5.5 million to 9.2 million doses are expected from the British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca with deliveries to start by middle or late February.
An estimated 117,000 doses were expected from Pfizer-BioNTech.
Government officials said the delivery of vaccines from AstraZeneca has run into manufacturing delays.