Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 10) Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Wednesday apologized to local government units for the delayed delivery of COVID-19 vaccines caused by supply issues.
In a statement, Galvez explained that the seven million doses that were supposed to arrive last month were reduced to 4.5 million due to logistical challenges. The remaining COVID-19 vaccines will be delivered this month, he added.
He then assured that LGUs identified as centers of gravity or those with a high number of active cases will be given their supply this week with the arrival of 3.2 million doses on Thursday.
Galvez emphasized that donated vaccines through the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility will be mainly allocated to priority groups, namely health workers, senior citizens, people with comorbidity, and indigent population. As for doses procured by the government, these will also be used for said groups, as well as economic frontliners.
Galvez assured that vaccine supply will normalize by June 14 as more vaccine doses arrive. For June, the government expects to receive over 11 million doses of coronavirus shots, another 11 million in July, and 17 million in August.
In the third quarter, 35 million doses are seen to arrive, with the bulk of the shipments coming from Sinovac and the COVAX facility, he said.
On Wednesday, Department of Health Director Napoleon Arevalo assured that more COVID-19 shots will be immediately delivered to local governments after a number of them said they have yet to start inoculating the A4 priority group or essential workers pending the arrival of additional supply.
The government has so far received over 9 million COVID-19 vaccines, with some 6 million COVID-19 shots already administered. To date, 1.6 million individuals have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.