MANILA, May 1 (Reuters) - The Philippines received its first
batch of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday, the
presidential office said.
The 15,000 doses of Sputnik V, developed by Russia's
Gamaleya Institute, will be used in four cities in the capital
region, the Philippines' coronavirus hotspot, the health
ministry said.
It was supposed to arrive on April 25, but was delayed by
logistical issues.
The Philippines is negotiating to buy 20 million doses of
Sputnik V, as part of its target to inoculate up to 70 million
adults this year.
It has so far received 4.04 million vaccine doses, more than
86% of which were from China's Sinovac Biotech and the rest from
AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) through the COVAX facility. More than 1.8 million
doses had been administered as of April 27, government data
showed.
With nearly 1.05 million infections and 17,354 deaths, the
Philippines is battling one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in
Asia.