Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 15) — The Philippines is among the countries receiving COVID-19 vaccine donations from Japan, a Cabinet official said on Tuesday.
“Japan Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi just announced this morning the donation of Japan-made AstraZeneca vaccines to some countries, including the Philippines,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said during the inquiry of the Senate Committee of the Whole on vaccine procurement.
He said Philippine officials have yet to be informed of the exact number of doses. Japan also pledged donations to Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand in June and July.
Japanese Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko also confirmed the news.
“We’ll make sure to deliver them at the soonest time possible,” he said in a tweet.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. said the country will receive a total of 68 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for free.
Meanwhile, he said the country is set to receive 6.4 million doses before the end of June. A total of 2.5 million Sinovac shots will be delivered on June 17 and June 24. The country will also get 250,000 doses of Moderna vaccines, with 50,000 allocated for the private sector. A huge shipment of 2.028 million AstraZeneca shots will arrive in the country in the third week of June, while another 150,000 doses of Sputnik V will be shipped before the month ends.
These shipments would be in addition to the 4.3 million doses received earlier this month.
Based on Dominguez’s estimate, the Philippines may receive a total of 204 million vaccine doses this year.
