President Rodrigo Duterte wants to be present when the first 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines arrive in the country, Malacañang said on Wednesday, February 24.

“The President has said that he wants to be there when the initial shipment of Sinovac is delivered to the Philippines,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said during a press briefing.

There is still no definite date of arrival of the much-awaited Sinovac vaccine, known officially as CoronaVac. But Helen Yang, general manager of Sinopharm’s Hong Kong office, said in the same press conference that they are aiming for the shipment to arrive either “this week or next week.”

This would mean the Philippines will get its very first COVID-19 vaccines by either the end of February or first week of March.

“The product is already prepared. We just need to finalize procedures with the customs then we can fix the date of the flight,” said Yang.

Roque said there may be a “small ceremony” when the vaccines arrive since they are donations from the Chinese government.

“We Filipinos, we want to pay our debt of gratitude. In our time of need, our friends in China brought us our first vaccine,” said the Duterte spokesman in Filipino.

Vice President Robredo welcome to get Sinovac jabs

Malacañang said the government is willing to include Vice President Leni Robredo in the first round of vaccinations among public officials in a bid to increase confidence in vaccinations among Filipinos.

“Kung gusto po ni Vice President (If the Vice President wants), she’s welcome to join also,” said Roque.

Robredo is well within the category of recommended vaccine recipients, according to the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization for CoronaVac.

The FDA only recommends the vaccine for people aged 18 to 59 who are clinically healthy. The Vice President is 55 years old.

Cabinet members that lead the government’s pandemic task force are “prepared” to receive Sinovac shots too, said Roque.

Willing task force officials include vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr, Roque himself, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

Lorenzana is 72 years old, outside the age range recommended by the FDA. But Roque said the FDA is not prohibiting healthcare workers or senior citizens from being administered CoronaVac. – Rappler.com