Additional 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine arrive in PH

FILE PHOTO: A health worker prepares a dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Central Vaccination Center, inside the Bang Sue Grand Station, Thailand, June 21, 2021. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

MANILA, Philippines — At least 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca donated by the Argentinian government arrived in the country on Friday.

State-run People’s Television Network (PTV) televised the arrival of a Singapore Airlines flight carrying the anti-coronavirus vaccine at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Earlier, the country received more than 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines which include donations from other countries and procurement by the government.

READ: PH to get highest single-day arrivals of 10 million COVID-19 vaccines

READ: PH receives 4 million donated COVID-19 vaccine doses

The latest donation from Argentina pushed the country’s total anti-COVID vaccine stock to over 178,500,000. The country is embarking on a massive inoculation drive in a bid to achieve so-called herd immunity as soon as possible.

The Department of Health previously announced that the Philippines has so far administered 100,019,137 COVID-19 vaccine doses since the vaccination program started in March.

It also said that 43,029,348 people in the country are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, accounting for 55.78 percent of the target population. The Philippines is aiming to inoculate 70% of its target population or roughly 73 million people to reach herd immunity.

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