1,187,550 doses of government-procured Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines arrive

The aircraft carrying an additional 1,187,550 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the Philippines on Monday as the country fast-tracked its inoculation efforts to prevent the spread of the severe respiratory disease.

State media PTV said the shipment of vaccines, which were purchased by the national government, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

In a statement, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the vaccine deliveries to the Philippines already surpassed 200 million.

"As of December 27, following the arrival today of Moderna vaccines from the COVAX facility and government-procured Pfizer-BioNTech jabs, a total of 202,660,355 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered to the country since February," he said.

He added that the vaccine supply "is more than enough" to vaccinate 100 million Filipinos and provide additional doses to eligible individuals.

So far, the Philippines reported a total of 2,838,792 COVID-19 infections with 2,778,002 recoveries and 51,211 fatalities.

There were fewer new COVID-19 cases, but four cases of the more contagious Omicron coronavirus variant had been detected. — DVM, GMA News