Philippines books 25 million doses of Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine

MANILA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The Philippines has secured 25
million doses of COVID-19 vaccines developed by China's Sinovac
Biotech, with the first 50,000 expected to arrive in February, a
government official said on Monday.
The deal will be a boost for a country that has among the
most coronavirus cases in Asia, but has trailed regional peers
in securing vaccines, with which it hopes this year to inoculate
70 million people, or two-thirds of its population.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the rest of the
Sinovac SVA.O vaccines will arrive in batches from March until
December.
The government hopes to vaccinate 50,000 people next month
with priority to healthcare workers, Carlito Galvez, a former
general in charge of the vaccination procurement effort, told a
senate inquiry.
Some senators have expressed concern over delays in the
rollout of vaccines, while the government may have difficulties
convincing the public of their safety, with a recent survey
showing less than a third Filipinos were willing to get
inoculated. Galvez said negotiating with vaccine manufacturers was a
"tedious" process and described the global vaccine supply as
"very volatile".
The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to
approve any COVID-19 vaccines and emergency use authorization
applications filed by Pfizer PFE.N , AstraZeneca AZN.L and
Russia's Gamaleya are pending.
The FDA is still evaluating the late-stage trial
applications of Sinovac and Clover.
Singapore began vaccinating healthcare workers in December,
while Indonesia's mass vaccination programme is set to start
this week. Indonesia on Monday granted emergency use approval to
Sinovac's CoronaVac. The Philippine has secured 30 million doses of the vaccine
Covovax from Serum Institute of India, and expects to receive 40
million doses through the COVAX facility in the first quarter.