Over 1.5 million Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses arrive

The Philippines on Thursday afternoon received an additional 1.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine donated by the German government through the COVAX facility.

A total of 1,531,000 vaccine doses arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 past 4 p.m.

The German government has already provided the Philippines with over 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said.

“We always thank these countries that they have given us the much needed life-saving vaccines as a Christmas gift,” he added.

He also thanked the COVAX facility and its donors, as well as the European Union.

German Embassy Economic Counselor George Maue, meanwhile, congratulated the Philippines for having a “very good and well functioning vaccination program.”

“With the pandemic continuing, we believe it is important to build on our strongest instrument which we have—to administer vaccination,” Maue said.

The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday reported 288 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the nationwide tally to 2,837,903.

The DOH said recoveries climbed by 270 to 2,777,671 while 65 new fatalities pushed the death toll to 50,981. — VBL, GMA News