The United States has successfully delivered a total of 3,240,850 one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines to the Philippines as part of its worldwide effort to help end COVID-19.
The shipment was provided directly to the Philippine government with the delivery via the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility, a global initiative to support equitable access to coronavirus jabs.
This was the first time the Philippines has received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a safe, trusted, and easy-to-store shot widely used in the United States.
US Embassy in the Philippines Chargé d’Affaires John Law and Acting USAID Mission Director Sean Callahan joined Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, IATF Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, NEDA Secretary Karl Chua, and other stakeholders at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in welcoming the arrival of the vaccines on July 16 and 17.
“This U.S. donation of vaccines from our domestic supply to the Philippines, our oldest treaty ally in Asia, demonstrates our close and abiding relationship, and how important this partnership is to us.
This one-shot, easy to store vaccine will protect millions of lives across the country,” Law said in a statement released by the US Embassy in Manila.
The Philippines previously received more than 7 million vaccine doses through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), a global initiative run by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
The United States is the largest monetary contributor to Gavi, having already donated over P100 billion ($2 billion) to the Alliance.
Meanwhile, Eastern Visayas region received on Monday 131,200 doses of the US-made Janssen single-dose coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccines, along with 8,300 doses of AstraZeneca, that are seen to boost its residents' protection against the infection.
This is the first shipment to the region of the Janssen vaccines manufactured by J&J as part of the 1,606,600 doses of the brand donated by the US government to the country through the COVAX Facility. The vaccines arrived in Manila on July 17.
“All provinces and cities are allocated with the Janssen vaccines. The priority groups are the remaining health workers, senior citizens and those with comorbidities,” DOH Eastern Visayas regional information officer Jelyn Lopez-Malibago said in a message sent to reporters.
The vaccines arrived at the Tacloban Airport at past 8 a.m. and were immediately transported to the DOH regional cold chain facility.
Four areas in Western Visayas have been identified as priority deployment areas for the Johnson & Johnson-manufactured Janssen vaccines, the Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH WV CHD) said.
Data from the Regional Vaccine Operation Center (RVOC) showed that 289,900 doses of the one-dose vaccines will be delivered to the region on July 19-20.
“We already have an allocation list for all provinces and two highly urbanized cities. The target priority group is A2 and A3,” DOH WV CHD medical officer Dr. Marie Jocelyn Te said in a virtual presser on Monday.
Based on the allocation, the provinces of Antique and Iloilo and the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo have been identified as priority areas. Antique will receive 25,000 doses; Iloilo province, 80,000; and Bacolod and Iloilo cities, 30,000 doses each.
The rest of the allocations include 70,000 doses for Negros Occidental; 30,000 for Capiz; 15,000 for Aklan; 5,000 for Guimaras; and 4,900 as buffer doses.
On July 19, 25 boxes of J&J containing 37,980 vials were delivered via Iloilo International Airport for the province and city of Iloilo and the DOH WV CHD, while Bacolod City and Negros Occidental received 6,000 and 14,000 vials, respectively.
The United States has worked closely with Philippine stakeholders throughout the pandemic to protect public health and support the local response to COVID-19.
To date, total US government COVID-19 assistance to the Philippines amounts to over P1.38 billion ($27.5 million).