DOH, NTF: Allocation, rollout of Sinovac vaccines ‘still being evaluated’

VACCINE PRODUCTION A worker inspects a batch of vaccines produced at a Beijing factory built by Sinovac, one of 11 Chinese companies approved to carry out clinical trials of potential coronavirus vaccines, in this photo taken in September 2020. —AFP

MANILA, Philippines — Specific details on the allocation and rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines from China-based drugmaker Sinovac which are expected to arrive in the country are still being finalized, the Department of Health (DOH) and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) clarified Thursday.

The DOH and NTF jointly made the clarification after Malacañang announced that more than half a million Covid-19 vaccines from Sinovac are expected to arrive on February 28.

“…The [DOH] and the [NTF] jointly clarify that as of press time, specific details as to the allocation and subsequent rollout of the 600,000 donated SINOVAC doses are still being evaluated pending the official recommendation of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) and its approval by the  Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID),” the DOH and NTF said in a statement.

The DOH and NTF said an arrival ceremony for the vaccines will be held at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City.

“However, details of the planned arrival ceremony are still currently being finalized in close coordination with the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China,” they said.

The Chinese government has donated 600,000 doses of Sinovac-made vaccines to the Philippines. Of this number, the Armed Forces of the Philippines will get 100,000 doses.

The doses were originally set to be delivered to the Philippines on Feb. 23, but the arrival was delayed on account of the issuance of an emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.

/MUF