Over 30,000 vials of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 jab arrive in Bicol

LEGAZPI CITY — Another batch of 33,280 vials of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine arrived on Wednesday morning at the Legazpi Domestic Airport, the Department of Health (DOH) in Bicol said. The vaccines were in 22 boxes aboard a Cebu Pacific commercial flight from Manila that landed at around 12:11 p.m., Noemi Bron, DOH Bicol Health and Promotion chief, said. Bron said a vial of J&J vaccine contains five doses which means the 33,280 vials can be administered to 166,400 people belonging to the A2 priority group (Senior Citizens) from the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, and Sorsogon. The vaccine allocation for Catanduanes and Masbate would be directly delivered from Manila to the island provinces. Some 9,000 doses arrived in Catanduanes on Monday, July 19, while the 28,400 doses for Masbate are due to arrive this week. The donation of J&J anti-COVID vaccine has brought to 203,800 the number of doses that arrived in Bicol.