MANILA, Jul 17 (NNN-PNA) – China delivered an additional batch of Sinovac CoronaVac vaccines to the Philippines this morning, to support the Southeast Asian country’s campaign against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fresh shipment of CoronaVac vaccines, procured by the Philippine government from Sinovac Biotech, arrived at the airport in Manila around 8:00 a.m. local time.
China was the first to deliver vaccines to the Philippines. It donated the first batch of CoronaVac to Manila on Feb 28, allowing the country to kick off its vaccination drive on Mar 1. As of today, China is the biggest supplier of vaccines to the Philippines.
According to a nationwide survey, published in May, Filipinos prefer China’s CoronaVac vaccine over other COVID-19 vaccines, with 39 percent of the 1,200 adult Filipinos placing it as the first choice.
The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) said, the country administered more than 13.8 million doses of vaccines, with more than 3.9 million people having been fully vaccinated, so far. The DOH aims to vaccinate up to 70 million people this year.
The Philippines reported a total of 1,496,328 confirmed cases as of yesterday, including 26,476 deaths.– NNN-PNA
