PH reserves 6 M doses of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine

A vial and sryinge are seen in front of a displayed Johnson&Johnson logo in this illustration taken January 11, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has reserved six million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson, Manila’s top diplomat in the United States said Monday.

Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Romualdez, the Philippine government is currently in talks with the company.

“Kausap na natin yung Johnson & Johnson. Alam natin na in-approve lang yan dito sa America. Meron tayong six million na naka-reserve sa Johnson & Johnson,” Romualdez said in an interview over Teleradyo.

(We are talking with Johnson & Johnson. We know they just received authorization here in the US. We have six million doses reserved.)

Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Romualdez. (INQUIRER FILE/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ)

He said the vaccine doses could be delivered to the country by the second half of the year.

“Iyan dadating ng mga second half of this year siyempre kasi yung production diyan e medyo ngayon pa lang maguumpisa ng full production,” the envoy said.

(These will arrive in the second half of this year, of course, because they just started their full production.)

Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine recently secured an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In Johnson & Johnson’s 44,000-person global trial, the vaccine was found to be 66% effective at preventing moderate-to-severe COVID-19 four weeks after inoculation, and 100% effective in preventing hospitalization and death due to the virus.

There were very few serious side effects reported in the trial, which also offered preliminary evidence that the vaccine reduced asymptomatic infections.

If that proves to be the case, it would mean COVID-19 vaccines may indeed reduce virus transmission as well as illness.

So far, the Philippines has received 600,000 doses of the CoronaVac vaccine developed by China-based Sinovac as a donation from the Chinese government.

The country was also supposed to receive 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine on Monday as part of the first round of allocated doses from the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility.

The delivery, however, will be delayed by one week due to global supply issues, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said. With a report from Reuters

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