News Release

Palace assures vaccine delivery as second batch of Sputnik V arrives



Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr assured the delivery of vaccines, particularly the new deliveries of AstraZeneca, Sinovac, and Pfizer vaccines, even as these undergo some processes prior to delivery to intended areas/recipients.

“Hindi po siya mabagal … may mga proseso na dapat pagdaanan at yun po ang dahilan kung bakit pagdating ‘di agad magamit,” said Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr in a press briefing on May 13, 2021.

The Palace official underscored that such processes are important to ensure the quality and efficiency of the vaccines. “Nag-iingat tayo. Pinag-aaralan talaga sa pamamagitan ng certificate of analysis,” said Secretary Roque.

Sec. Roque, who serves as the concurrent Inter-Agency Task Force spokesperson, further explained that a certificate of analysis is needed prior to deployment of the Sinovac vaccine to ensure that the latest batch of vaccines is of the same quality as that of the previous deliveries.

“Pinalilinaw lang po ni Sec. Galvez … na yung 1.5 million na dumating na Sinovac … lumabas na ang certificate of analysis ng 500,000. So lahat po iyon, na-deploy na sa Metro Manila. Pero meron pa pong 1 million na undergoing certificate of analysis,” Sec. Roque said.

On the recent deliveries of vaccines from AstraZeneca and Pfizer, Roque said that there are subcontractors that deploy the vaccines because of the specific temperature requirements. “Sasabihan po natin yung ating mga subcontractors na pabilisan yung kanilang deployment dahil stratehiya nga po natin para mabuksan ang ating ekonomiya, na bukod pa sa mask, hugas, iwas ay kinakailangan ay magpabakuna na,” said Roque.

The Palace official also stressed that there is no problem with the deployment and administration of the vaccines prior to its expiration, like the AstraZeneca vaccines that will expire in July this year. “Wala pong problema yan kasi ang expiration date ay July, Mayo pa lang po. Isang buwan lang ang ating kailangan para ubusin yung two million ng Astra Zeneca,” assured Roque.

He added, “Ang aim nga po natin makapagbakuna ng 500,000 daily at hindi pa po natin magagawa yan dahil kulang nga po ang bakuna. So doon sa mga bakuna na dumating po, wala pong problema, ubos kaagad yan.”

Meanwhile, Sec. Roque confirmed the arrival of 15,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccine last night, May 12, 2021. “Ito ang second dose ng 15,000 doses na nauna nang dumating sa Pilipinas,” Roque said.

On another matter, Roque said that with the Emergency Use Listing granted by the World Health Organization to the Sinopharm vaccine, and with the declaration of the Department of Health that it will file for Emergency Use Authorization for Sinopharm, the government is determined to add the said vaccine in the country’s vaccine portfolio that will be used in the inoculation of Filipinos against COVID-19.

“Ang paninidigan po natin dahil sa development na ito ay lalo pang darami ang ating vaccine portfolio habang patuloy natin ini-improve ang access sa ligtas at epektibong bakuna tulad ng Sinopharm,” remarked Roque. ### OPS-PCOO