500K MORE VACCINES. An airport personnel in PPE gears disinfects cargo boxes containing 500,000 more doses of the government-procured Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine that arrived on board a Cebu Pacific flight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 in Pasay City on Thursday (May 20, 2021). The new shipment brought the country’s total number of the China-made vaccine so far to 5.5 million, including 1 million donated by the Chinese government. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)
MANILA – Releasing of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccines imported by the private sector will generally be the same as those bought by the government, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said.
In a Viber message to journalists Thursday, Dominguez said the private sector-procured vaccines are expected to arrive by mid-June this year.
“For Moderna and AZ (AstraZeneca), it would be the same since DOH (Department of Health) is the consignee. For Sinovac, it may be a little different since the consignee is the FFCCCII (Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc.),” he said.
Dominguez said “the process will substantially be the same and liquidation will be done on an after the fact basis.”
“Goods will pass through unhampered in order to ensure temperature stability,” he added.
Reports said FFCCCII has signed a deal with China’s Sinovac Biotech to purchase 500,000 doses, worth around PHP325 million, of its Covid-19 vaccine.
The government and the private sector have also signed a tripartite agreement to procure around 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by US-based company Moderna.
Under the deal, the government will purchase the bulk of the vaccine at 13 million doses while the private sector will purchase the balance of 7 million. (PNA)
