THE Department of Health and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 announced that the rollout schedule of coronavirus vaccine doses from China’s Sinovac has not been set as immunization experts are still discussing the allocation of the 600,000 doses.
“As of press time, specific details as to the allocation and subsequent rollout of the 600,000 donated SINOVAC doses are still being evaluated pending the official recommendation of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group and its approval by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases,” the DOH and the NTF said in a joint statement.
The DOH and NTF also confirmed that the donated vaccines are scheduled to arrive within a few days, with the arrival ceremony to be held at Villamor Airbase in Pasay City.
However, details of the planned arrival ceremony are still currently being finalized in close coordination with the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China.
The Department of National Defense earlier said that out of the 600,000 doses, 100,000 will go to its employees and members of the military.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the Sinovac jab for emergency use on Monday but did not recommend it for health workers due to its lower efficacy rate of 50.4% in the health care group.
The drug regulator later clarified, however, that health workers can still get the Sinovac vaccine if they choose to.
