MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines may get more than 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the second quarter of 2021 — that is April, May, or June, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., vaccine czar and National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer, said Monday in a pre-recorded briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte.
Although he did not detail the number of doses for each brand, Galvez said these 20 million doses would come from Sinovac BioTech, the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility, Novovax, and AstraZeneca.
The 2.6 million doses of AstraZeneca ordered by the private sector might arrive in May or June, Galvez said.
The Philippine government and the private sector signed an agreement to buy those doses with AstraZeneca in November 2020.
By the second quarter of this year, the government is eyeing to vaccinate economic frontliners.