Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for Red Cross to arrive in June or July: chair

The Philippine Red Cross will have upcoming Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines in June or July, according to its chairman Sen. Richard Gordon.

According to Gordon, there is a fee and they also need to donate another vaccine to be given to those who cannot afford it.

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“Halimbawa [ang bibili] kayang-kaya na magbayad. Hindi naman gaano kamahal, mayroon kang magbabayad ka, magdo-donate ka para sa may hindi kaya para mas marami tayo, makarami tayo,” Gordon said in an interview with Teleradyo, Thursday night.

The Philippine Red Cross will also provide certification proving that the donated vaccine has been used for those in need, Gordon added.

The two doses of the Moderna vaccine are estimated at P4,000. This means that one has to pay P8,000 to get it.

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For those interested in making a reservation, please email chairman@redcross.com or call 1158.

According to Gordon, they have already prepared what to do when they have their own vaccination.

“If ibigay sa amin, ang unang pina-practice namin sarili namin. Lahat kami nabakunahan na,” said Gordon.

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Moderna does not currently have an emergency use authorization (EUA).

The only COVID -19 vaccines with EUAs in the country are that of Pfizer, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, and Janssen – with conditional authorization amid alleged side effects.

Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for Red Cross to arrive in June or July: chair

Gordon also noted that vaccination progress has been slow.

He stressed that it could take 5 years for the whole country to achieve the so-called herd immunity if we look at the number of people vaccinated.

“With the last 7-day average of daily vaccinated individuals at 43,835, it will take 4.8 years — almost 5 years — until 2026 to complete the 70 percent (vaccination), 77 million Filipinos,” said Gordon.

“So dapat dagdagan natin ang mga bakuna at magpapabakuna.”

The number of vaccinated people in the country has reached 1,612,420 since April 22. There are 3,525,600 vaccines arriving in the country, of which 3,025,600 have already been distributed.

Meanwhile, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Thursday that COVID-19 vaccines from Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute and Pfizer would arrive by next week.

During a news conference at , Galvez said an initial 15,000 Sputnik V doses are expected to be delivered on April 25. The second batch of 480,000 doses would arrive on April 29, along with 500,000 Sinovac doses.