First batch of vaccines in PH now complete

By Jack Ramos

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Yesterday, March 7, 38,400 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at past 7 p.m. to bring the total doses in the Philippines to 525,600 which was originally committed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Philippines on March 4 received a total of 487,200 doses of Covid-19 vaccines created by British-Swede biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca which were supposed to be delivered last March 1 but were delayed because of supply problems.

A commercial plane, Air France-KLM which contained the Covid-19 vaccines, arrived at NAIA in Pasay City at around 7:10 pm last Thursday.

President Rodrigo Duterte alongside Sen. Bong Go and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III welcomed the donated vaccines but came two hours late. They were greeted by the WHO’s Representative to the Philippines, Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe.

Duterte pleaded with the Filipinos to get vaccinated as the Philippine government plans to reopen the economy because of the slow economic growth of the country caused by the strict lockdowns to combat the spread of Covid-19.

“Please get vaccinated against Covid-19 and be the government partner in preventing further spread of the disease. I encourage you to get vaccinated the soonest possible time. These vaccines are safe and they are key to reopening our society,” Duterte said in his speech at the welcome ceremony.

The AstraZeneca vaccines were brought to the Villamor Air Base's Kalayaan Hall before they were delivered at Metro Pacific Investment Corp. in Marikina City.

With the complete first batch of AstraZeneca vaccines, Duterte, 75, and Duque, 64, will now get vaccinated. AstraZeneca vaccine is recommended and can be used on people aged 60 above and citizens who have pre-existing medical conditions.

"Magpapabakuna na rin po ako pagdating ng AstraZeneca bilang isang doktor na nagbabakuna rin at humaharap sa pasyente at nag-i-inspect ng mga healthcare facilities tulad ng mga ospital," Duque said during a meeting with Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, who is not a senior citizen and a health worker, was supposed to join vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo in getting a Sinovac shot last March 1 but did not manage to get injected.

Roque stated that he was not able to get a vaccine jab because it would go against the recommendation of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) that health workers and employees of health facilities should go first. Domingo and Galvez were supposed to get inoculated on the same day.

With the recent surge of Covid-19 cases, the first vaccine rollout of AstraZeneca at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) started today. There are no media on sight as well as politicians and military; only medical workers that are prioritized to get vaccinated.

On Covid-19 cases

The Philippines experienced a sudden surge of Covid-19 cases three days ago.

On March 5 the country recorded 3,045 new coronavirus infections while on the following day, 3,439 new Covid-19 cases and an additional 3,276 cases of coronavirus were tallied. A total of 9,760 coronavirus infections were recorded in three days.

Due to the sudden increase of Covid-19 cases, the IATF will review its decisions to loosen restrictions this week.

"Ire-review po this week 'yan, sa mga susunod na araw ire-review po iyan ng IATF ang kanilang rekomendasyon dahil nga mahigit dumoble ang mga kaso since lumabas yung mga desisyon na yan," testing czar Vince Dizon said in Super Radyo dzBB.

Dizon said that the IATF will review if quarantine barangay passes will be required again for those who will leave their homes but the return of the strictest quarantine protocol, Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) is not yet considered.