Manila mayor thanks US gov’t for donating one-shot J&J Janssen COVID-19 vaccine

The Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso in a radio interview on Wednesday, July 21, thanked the US government for donating 3,240,850 doses of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines through the COVAX global vaccine sharing facility.

The donation, which is worth over P1.38 billion or about $27.5 million, is being allocated to every region in the country.

The City of Manila received from the national government an allocation of 3,760 vials or 18,800 doses of Janssen on Tuesday, July 20.

These vaccines, which the LGU has set aside for senior citizens (A2 priority group), were immediately distributed to the city’s vaccination sites.

Domagoso said,  “Salamat po sa US government dahil ang Manila po ay nagkamit ng Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Ito ay itinuturok natin sa ating mga senior citizens. Malaking bagay po ito kasi kapag binakuna sa inyo Janssen ito ay isang bakuna lang.”

The mayor said that with the threat of the Delta variant present, it was necessary to protect those who were most vulnerable. He also reiterated that this was the directive from the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 chief implementer Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID or IATF).

Addressing senior citizens, Domagoso reassured them, “Mga lolo’t lola ko, nanay at tatay ko, delikado po ang Delta. Pero huwag na po kayong mangamba.”

The mayor went on to say that in case there are some Janssen doses that won’t be administered today, then they will be administered to senior citizens tomorrow, Thursday, July 22.

Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen is the sixth vaccine brand approved for use in the Philippines. It is expected to give a significant boost to the country’s mass vaccination efforts because it is easier to roll out. Aside from being a single-dose vaccine, it does not require ultra-cold storage.