Supply problem delays arrival of AstraZeneca vaccines by a week — Duque

vaccine

A medic inserts a syringe into a vial of AstraZeneca’s COVISHIELD coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Yangon, Myanmar, after the country received 1.5 million doses of the vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, January 27, 2021. REUTERS/Shwe Paw Mya Tin

MANILA, Philippines — The expected delivery of over 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will not happen on Monday and will be delayed by a week because of global supply issues, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Sunday.

“Mayroon lang balita kasi na hindi matutuloy [ang delivery] dahil sabi ng WHO (World Health Organization), nagkaka-problema sila sa supply. So, maaantala raw ng mga isang linggo,” Duque said in an interview over state-run PTV 4.

(There is news that the delivery will no longer push through because there is a problem with the supply according to WHO.)

“Kanina tumanggap kami ng komunikasyon na nagsasabi na hindi na matutuloy. Baka abutin ng isang linggo pa,” he added.

(We earlier received a communication that the delivery will no longer push through and will be delayed for about a week.)

About 525,600 doses of vaccines from the British-Swede drugmaker were expected to arrive in the Philippines on Monday, which is part of the first round of allocated doses from the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility.

/MUF

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