DOH: Arrival of bivalent COVID-19 vaccines faces ‘slight delay’
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday announced another “slight delay” in the arrival of COVID-19 bivalent vaccines.
The DOH previously said that the country is set to receive 390,000 doses by the end of May.
“As per the DOH – Bureau of International Health Cooperation (BIHC), there shall be a slight delay in the arrival of the bivalent vaccines as there are permits that are still needed to be coordinated,” the health department said in a statement.
The DOH, however, assured the public that it continues to exhaust all efforts to ensure that the said vaccines will arrive by the end of the month.
Meanwhile, the department also said it has already signed the memorandum for preparing and implementing the bivalent vaccines’ rollout and is now only awaiting its release.
On May 2, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire reported that the initial donation of over one million doses of bivalent vaccines was instead given to another country.
The Philippines was supposed to receive over one million doses of bivalent vaccines but the acquisition hit a “roadblock” after the COVID-19 state of calamity lapsed, consequently reverting to the usual process of procurement – which takes longer because the DOH is no longer eligible to make emergency procurement.
Bivalent vaccines are a type of vaccine that targets specific variants of COVID-19, like the more transmissible Omicron.
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