DOH: WHO assured Philippines AstraZeneca 2nd doses arriving by end-April

The World Health Organization (WHO) has assured the Philippines that additional AstraZeneca doses supplied by the COVAX global facility will arrive by end-April, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday, April 9.

The DOH relayed the WHO’s assurance to the Philippines amid the COVAX delivery delays.

“Yes, they gave that assurance that towards the end of April, we will get our COVAX Facility batch of AstraZeneca vaccines, so hopefully the commitment is there and the batch of the vaccines will arrive,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing.

Vergeire had been asked if more AstraZeneca doses, initially expected to arrive in the Philippines by the end of March, would be available for health workers scheduled to receive their second dose of the vaccine in early May.

An initial 525,600 AstraZeneca doses arrived in the Philippines on March 4 and 7, while 979,200 more AstraZeneca shots were expected to be delivered sometime from March 24 to 26.

WHO Representative Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe earlier said expected deliveries from COVAX were delayed due to a shortage of vaccines globally. The delay was felt after India, the world’s biggest vaccine maker, suspended exports of AstraZeneca’s vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), to meet rising domestic demand amid an increase in local cases.

Back in March 15, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III proposed to President Rodrigo Duterte that all 525,600 AstraZeneca doses already in the country be used as first doses in order to cover more people.

Galvez and Duque had reasoned that since the time between two doses of AstraZeneca’s shot was 8 to 12 weeks or two to three months, new shipments would likely arrive by that time.

Amid the uncertainty in vaccines coming from COVAX, Galvez earlier said that the government was “doing its best” to ensure the arrival of AstraZeneca doses. He said that the government could fall back on doses it procured through direct arrangements with the British drug maker itself.