A small shopping basket filled with vials labeled “COVID-19 – Coronavirus Vaccine” and a medical sryinge are placed on a Moderna logo in this illustration taken November 29, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Ilustration
MANILA, Philippines — The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines developed by US firm Moderna is expected to arrive in the Philippines by the end of May or early part of June, the country’s ambassador to the US Jose Romualdez said Friday.
In a televised briefing, Romualdez said the Philippine government, private sector and Moderna are ironing out the supply agreement to finalize the delivery.
“We’ve already concluded the agreement, yung supply na lang. We’re threshing out the supply kung kailan nga nila pwede ideliver itong Moderna,” Romualdez said.
(We’ve already concluded the agreement, we’re working on the supply. We’re threshing out the supply on when these Moderna vaccines will be delivered.)
“Ito medyo katumbas ng Pfizer, and we’re hoping that we will have the first deliveries by either end of May or early part of June, yan ang tinatarget natin,” he added.
(It’s almost equivalent to Pfizer, and we’re hoping that we will have the first delivery by either end of May or early part of June, that’s our target.)
Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez
—US EMBASSY PHOTO
Romualdez earlier said the Philippine government, along with the private sector secured up to 20 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
“Half of that or almost half of that will go to the private sector and their employees, malaking force yan. And then the other half will go to our health workers and the rest of Filipinos that will be receiving the Moderna through the LGUs and other entities there in the Philippines,” Romualdez said.
Meanwhile, Romualdez said 117,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine from the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility are also expected to arrive soon.
“The 117,000, that was promised by COVAX, I understand from [vaccine czar] Sec. [Carlito] Galvez medyo nagkaroon lang ng kaunting delay pero darating din daw. It’s supposed to be coming to the Philippines within the next couple of weeks,” Romualdez said.
The Pfizer vaccine was scheduled to arrive in mid-February but encountered delays due to issues on the indemnification agreement.