NTF: 1.5M of 2M AstraZeneca vax doses set aside for 2nd shot

The National Task Force against COVID-19 said Saturday that a significant portion of AstraZeneca's two million doses that arrived on Friday as COVAX facility's donation, will be allocated as second shot for those who got their first.

“From the 2,028,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, 1.5 million will be set aside as the second shot for individuals who got their first in May and June,” NTF chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said.

Likewise, he said, “The 500,000 doses will be deployed to regions with large populations who fall under priority groups A2 and A3.” 

According to Galvez, the vaccine supply from COVAX will be used for healthcare workers and their families (A1), senior citizens (A2), and persons with comorbidities (A3), “while prioritizing vulnerable communities,"

As of July 8, 861,560 of the country’s 8,274,916 senior citizens have been fully vaccinated; while 2,632,861 have received their first dose.

Meanwhile, 3,184,933 out of the 7,085,183 individuals who fall under the A3 priority group have been inoculated with the first dose; while 1,039,710 have been fully vaccinated. 

World Health Organization (WHO) representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe stressed the need to inoculate those under the A2 and A3 group “to protect as many people as possible.”

“We are urging the government to use these vaccines to ensure that the A2 and A3 groups have received their full vaccination,” he added.

On the other hand, Galvez has committed the latest AstraZeneca shipment to areas whose A2 and A3 priority sectors have not yet received their first dose.

Last Friday's delivery is the COVAX facility’s sixth vaccine deployment to the country, and the fourth consisting of AstraZeneca doses.

The initial delivery of 525,600 AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in two batches last March, followed by 2,030,400 doses in May.

To date, the Philippines has received a total of 20,607,570 doses from different vaccine manufacturers.

More than 10.4 million doses were government-procured, seven million were sourced  from the COVAX facility, more than two million came from bilateral donations, while the rest were initial deliveries of LGU and private sector-procured doses.

Meanwhile, Abeyasinghe confirmed the upcoming delivery of 3,024,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson anti-COVID vaccine from the “sharing agreement with the United States” and COVAX.

WHO's Abeyasinghe said the delivery of J&J's one-shot vaccine is expected to start next week.

Galvez said the donated J&J vaccines will be deployed equitably among regions nationwide, including the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), adding that all regions will receive at least 100,000 doses.  

Moreover, Galvez said the short shelf-life of anti-COVID vaccines should not be a cause for concern, as LGUs are expected to ramp up their vaccination rate once they receive the supplies.

He said this was the same concern raised during the vaccine deliveries in May, wherein the expiration dates of vaccines fell on June 30 and the end of July.

However, the LGUs were able to administer the vaccines immediately.

With the Philippines’ increasing vaccination rate, Galvez is confident that the government can administer as much as two million jabs weekly.

“There is no issue on the vaccines that have shorter shelf-life because we can administer them immediately. We have no problem with that,” he said. —LBG, GMA News