Black hawk choppers carrying 600 doses of Sinovac vaccines intended for soldiers landed at the Tactical Operations Group 5 in Legazpi City, Albay on Monday morning. The vials were then transported to the 9th Infantry Division headquarters in Pili, Camarines Sur to await distribution to soldiers working on the frontline against COVID-19. Photos by Michael B. Jaucian, Inquirer Southern Luzon
LEGAZPI CITY –– Some 600 vials of CoronaVac vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech Ltd. arrived on board a Philippine Air Force Black Hawk chopper before noon Monday at the Army’s 9th Infantry Division (9ID) headquarters in Pili town in Camarines Sur province.
The CoronaVac vials intended for Philippine Army soldiers under the 9ID arrived around 11 a.m., Army Captain John Paul Belleza, 9ID public affairs chief, said.
Local medical authorities inspected the vaccines and brought them to a Department of Health storage facility in Camarines Sur.
Belleza said the 600 vaccines were just an initial delivery from the thousands of vaccines allocated for the Bicol region.
He said soldiers doing health frontline services are the priority for the vaccinations.
Belleza said the Division is still planning the distribution process and inoculation of soldiers.
The 9ID covers the entire Bicol region.