NEW VAX BRAND. Acting Chargé Affaires of UAE Khalid Alhajeri (3rd from left) and NTF’s sub-task group on current operations head and OPAPP Assistant Secretary Wilben Mayor (3rd from right) put the Department of Health’s campaign “Resbakuna” sticker on the Sinopharm/Hayat-vax Covid-19 vaccine cargo that arrived at NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay City on Wednesday (Aug. 11, 2021). Mayor said the latest delivery will be deployed to various priority areas. (PHOTO)

PARANAQUE – The shipment of Sinopharm/Hayat-Vax Covid-19 vaccine donated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), arrived Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City.

The National Task Force Against Covid-19 (NTF) said the initial delivery of 100,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines will be a “huge” aid to the country’s vaccination program amid a limited supply of jabs globally.

In an interview, Assistant Secretary Wilben Mayor, head of the NTF’s sub-task group on current operations, said the newly delivered Sinopharm vaccines will be distributed to areas experiencing a surge of Covid-19 cases including Metro Manila and other provinces.

“This will very helpful for the people, especially in this time of pandemic and with the Delta variant that we have here in the Philippines. These 100,000 doses is really a great number that would further expand our vaccination program,” Mayor said.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Philippines has already granted the emergency use authorization for Sinopharm vaccines known as Hayat-Vax in UEA, he said.

Various research works and clinical tests in UAE suggested that Hayat-Vax, a locally-produced version of the Sinopharm vaccine, was 86 percent effective in preventing infection in Phase-3 trials involving 31,000 people.

Mayor said the government is also eyeing to procure more Sinopharm vaccines.

“As far as I know, there have been discussions and projections to secure Sinopharm in the future, but again we leave it to the procurement team whatever the plan will be. But the program under the government vaccine cluster involves more portfolio of Covid-29 vaccines,” he said.

Mayor said the Philippines has so far seven coronavirus vaccine portfolios, including Sinovac’s CornaVac, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Sputnik V, and Johnson and Johnson.

The government, he said, is pushing equitable distributions of vaccines, particularly in Covid-19 high-risk areas.

NTF Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., earlier said the Chinese government donation of 1 million doses of Sinopharm vaccines is slated to be delivered on August 21. (PNA)