AN ADDITIONAL 15,000 doses of Sputnik V, Russia’s vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), arrived in the Philippines Thursday night, May 13, 2021.
According to the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19, the shipment arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 via Qatar Airways.
The first Sputnik V shipment, also consisting of 15,000 doses, arrived on May 1.
Vaccine czar and NTF chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said the government has secured a supply of 10 million doses from the Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is distributing the vaccine.
The contract is expandable to 20 million doses, with the first 10 million doses to be delivered over the next four months.
The initial doses of Sputnik V are being used in a pilot run that will enable the government to assess its capability to handle the supply chain management for this vaccine.
The vaccine is being administered in the cities of Makati, Taguig, Muntinlupa, Manila and Parañaque in the National Capital Region.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier said Sputnik V needs to be stored at -18 degrees Celsius. Common refrigerators are capable of storage temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.
Sputnik V, which was developed from human adenoviral vector, is administered in two doses 21 days apart to individuals 18 years old and older.
FDA said Sputnik V demonstrated 91.6 percent overall efficacy against symptomatic Covid-19 21 days after the first dose and 100 percent efficacy against severe disease.
It was the fourth Covid-19 vaccine allowed for emergency use in the Philippines, after those of Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-Oxford and Sinovac.
Sinovac and AstraZeneca may be stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius while unopened Pfizer vials need to be stored at an average of -70 degrees Celsius.
As of May 13, the Philippines has received 7,779,050 doses, consisting of 5.0 million doses of Sinovac, 2.556 million doses of AstraZeneca, 193,050 doses of Pfizer and 30,000 doses of Sputnik V.
As of May 11, the National Vaccine Operations Center reported that 2,539,693 doses have been administered to 2,025,038 individuals, of whom 514,655 have also received their second dose.
The seven-day average of vaccinated individuals improved to 67,780 on May 11 from 36,491 on May 4.
The government’s target is to inoculate 70 million Filipinos in 2021. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)