Published May 13, 2021, 10:59 AM
Vaccine czar and National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 chief implementer, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. has quelled public concern that around two million AstraZeneca vaccines might expire before they could get used in the government’s mass inoculation program against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Vaccine czar, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. during the symbolic vaccination at Makati Medical Center on May 13, 2021. (Screengrab from, Facebook live)
“We believe yung sa AstraZeneca, we can manage that considering our daily inoculation right now is 83,000,” Galvez told members of the media on the sidelines of a “symbolic” vaccination Thursday, May 13, at Makati Medical Center.
By JULIA MARI ORNEDO, GMA News
Published May 13, 2021 10:39am The Philippines will receive an additional 2.2 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from the COVAX facility this month, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said Thursday. “‘Yung next na delivery ng ating Pfizer (Our next Pfizer delivery), more or less 2.2 million [doses], I was informed yesterday is before the end of the month,” he said during a symbolic vaccination ceremony at the Makati Medical Center. Galvez added that authorities are now conducting a rehearsal for the transport of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab. “Meron kaming arrangement with UNICEF na diretso na kaagad sa Davao, diretso na kaagad sa Cebu, diretso na sa mga areas na paglalagakan natin ng Pfizer para wala po tayong double handling,” he said.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Thursday, May 13, defended the status of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine deployment in the country - noting that concerned agencies are just following the proper processes and procedures.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (FILE PHOTO/MANILA BU
Published May 13, 2021, 11:48 AM
A huge batch of Pfizer vaccines–over two million according to Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.–is coming to the Philippines later this month.
The first batch of Pfizer vaccines in the Philippines arrived on May 10, 2021. (Photo from Bureau of Customs)
Galvez, National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 chief implementer, made this revelation Thursday, May 13 during a symbolic rollout of the Pfizer jabs at Makati Medical Center.
“Yung next na delivery ng Pfizer (The next delivery of Pfizer), more or less 2.2 million, I was informed yesterday, is before the end of the month,” he said during the question and answer portion of the event, which was streamed on social media. The United States (US)-made vaccines are perhaps the most sought-after in the world, thanks to its high efficacy rate and promising usage on teenagers.
(JANSEN ROMERO/FILE PHOTO/MANILA BULLETIN)
“There has been a downward trend in the number of cases,” said Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III in a media briefing after a symbolic vaccination at Makati Medical Center on Thursday, May 13.
“If you look at the trend, it’s quite clear, it’s going down” Duque said, noting that for the past four weeks, the numbers of COVID-19 cases – based on a 7-day moving average – have been going down.
For the downward trend to be sustained, Duque urged everyone “to work together.”
He noted that that the “goal is to bring it down to lower than 2,000 cases per day which was the pre-surge number.”