Another 50,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines from Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute arrived on Sunday, May 30, 2021, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 onboard Qatar Airways Flight QR928.
The vaccine doses will be transported to the PharmaServ Warehouse in Marikina City for storage.
They will be deployed in “centers of gravity” or areas throughout the country experiencing surges in COVID-19 cases.
So far, the country has received a total of 80,000 Sputnik V doses, including the shipment which arrived today.
The first two tranches comprising 15,000 doses each arrived on May 1 and May 12.
The storage temperature requirement on the Sputnik V, which is at -18 degrees Celsius, is lower compared to the Sinovac and AstraZeneca, which have a required temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.
According to the Department of Health, the efficacy of Sputnik V against symptomatic COVID-19 is 91.6 percent, while it can prevent moderate and severe cases from 100 percent.
However, the vaccine could not be given to 17-year-olds and under, FDA director-general Eric Domingo said earlier.
50K doses of Sputnik V arrive in PH
“[Sputnik V, AstraZeneca] and also Pfizer [are safe for senior citizens]… Pfizer is for 16 and above, AstraZeneca is for 18, and above, and Sputnik is for 18 and above,” said Domingo at a press briefing.
“It is decided that all conditions for an EUA are present, and the benefits of using the vaccine outweigh the potential risk.”
Meanwhile, almost 3 months after starting the vaccine rollout in the country, more than 5 million Filipinos have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 1.2 million have completed 2 doses.
It is said to be higher than the government’s target of 4 million vaccinations before the end of May.
According to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., 500,000 vaccines per day are needed in Metro Manila and 8 other places to achieve herd immunity in November.
“Pagka meron tayong steady supply, local governments can meet their target. I’m very confident that we can achieve virus containment by August or September. More than 30 percent of the population will be vaccinated by then,” said Galvez.
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