Two million doses of Sinovac vaccine were airlifted by Cebu Pacific (CEB) flight from Beijing, China that touched down at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, June 24, 2021.
Secretary Francisco Duque lll of the Department of Health (DOH), vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso and Vice Mayor Maria Sheilah “Honey” Lacuna Pangan were at the airport to welcome the arrival of the vaccines.
The DOH said out of the 2 million doses, 1.6 million doses are consigned to DOH, while the 400,000 doses are for the local government unit (LGU) of Manila.
Moreno and Pangan received the shipment that was immediately transported to PharmaServ Express cold storage in Marikina City to maintain suitable vaccine temperature.
Last June 17, 2021, 1.5 million doses of Sinovac vaccine arrived at Naia on board another CEB flight, out of which 1 million doses were sent to DOH, while the 500,000 doses, the first private led vaccine shipment, were transported to PharmaServ Express cold storage in Marikina.
Meanwhile, three medical experts from Israel arrived at the country last June 20 headed by Dr. Avraham Ben-Zaken, Dr. Adam Segal and Dr. Dafna Segol to support the Philippines in its Anti-Covid Response and vaccination program and to share their expertise in ensuring the success in combatting coronavirus and the vaccination program in the Philippines.