ANOTHER 500,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) arrived in the country early Thursday, April 29, 2021.

The vaccines were arrived via Cebu Pacific at 7:35 a.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2, completing Sinovac’s commitment to deliver 1.5 million doses of government-procured vaccines for the month of April.

These brought the total number of Sinovac doses received by the Philippines to 3.5 million, including the one million doses donated by the Chinese government.

As of April 29, the Philippines has taken delivery of 4,025,600 doses of vaccines, including the 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines donated through the Covax facility.

Of the 4.025 million, more than 1.8 million have been administered as of April 27, consisting of 1,562,815 first dose and 246,986 second dose.

About a third of these shots went to the National Capital Region (NCR), epicenter of Covid-19 epidemic in the country.

NTF records show that 609,710 NCR residents have received their first dose. Among these recipients, 82,041 have also received their second dose.

Meanwhile, National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. said the arrival of Gamaleya’s Sputnik V was postponed “due to logistical challenges on the shipment of the vaccines.” (SunStar Philippines)