Duterte welcomes arrival of over 2.8M Sputnik V vaccines

Screenshot from PTV video
Screenshot from PTV video

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, November 8, 2021, personally welcomed the arrival of 2.8 million vials of government-procured Sputnik V coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines.

Duterte expressed gratitude to the Russian government for the delivery of the total of 2,805,000 vials of Sputnik V vaccines.

“These deliveries affirm Russia’s commitment to achieve local vaccine equity and improve vaccine accessibility to countries, especially the Philippines,” he said in his speech.

“I deeply appreciate Russia’s effort in fostering cooperation in various areas, including the fight against Covid-19, goodwill initiatives such as vaccine donation and others (to) demonstrate the strong ties and friendship between Russia and the Philippines,” he added.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the delivery was the biggest shipment of the Russian vaccines procured through the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

The delivery includes components 1 and 2, which can fully vaccinate at least 1.4 million individuals.

The Russian government has delivered at least 7.19 million Sputnik V doses out of the 10 million procured by the National Government.

Galvez said the newly arrived vaccine doses will be allocated to the provinces, which are still experiencing challenges in their vaccination drive due to the lack of cold storage capacity, as well as shortage of manpower to administer the vaccines.

Among the regions with low vaccination rate were the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm), Region 4B (Mimaropa), Region 5 (Bicol Region), Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) and Region 12 (Soccsksargen), he said earlier the day.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said they will also boost vaccination in Calabarzon and Central Luzon, the neighboring region of Metro Manila.

As of November 8, a total of 113,451,500 Covid-19 vaccine doses have arrived in the Philippines.

Galvez said 29,477,961 individuals have been fully vaccinated while over 30 million people have received their first dose.

He said the National Government aims to fully vaccinate at least 54 million people by the end of 2021. (SunStar Philippines)

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