Galvez: Delivery of vaccines from COVAX facility will have slight delay

MANILA, Philippines — The delivery of vaccine doses from the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility would be slightly delayed due to “global logistics constraints,” vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Tuesday.

Galvez said manufacturing countries are restricting exports of the vaccines, thus delaying the country’s delivery of the shots.

“Our most recent COVAX information suggests that there will be a small delay due to global logistics constraints.,” he said in a Palace briefing.

He said the government is doing everything it could to expedite the remaining COVAX commitment.

A total of 979,200 doses from AstraZeneca is scheduled to arrive in the Philippines in late March or early April, according to Galvez.

READ: 979,200 AstraZeneca shots to arrive in PH in late March or early April

On March 4, 487,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in the country, followed by another set of 38,400 doses on March 7 — a total of 525,600 doses from COVAX.

The Philippines is slated to receive at least 5.6 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX facility in the first quarter of the year.

READ: PH to get 5.6 million doses of Pfizer, AstraZeneca vaccine in Q1

The Philippine government also hopes to finalize supply agreements with other pharmaceutical companies, such as Johnson&Johnson, Sinovac BioTech, Moderna, Novavax, and Gamaleya Institute, in the first or second week of April, according to Galvez.

On Monday, the Philippines received one million procured doses of Sinovac vaccines.

abc