PH receives 3M doses of of J&J vaccine from US

THE United States has donated over 3 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to the Philippines as part of its worldwide effort to help end the coronavirus pandemic.

US Embassy in Manila acting Press Attaché Jonathan Rose said in a statement on Monday that on July 16 and 17, the United States delivered 3,240,850 doses of the single-dose vaccine to the Philippines.

Rose said that to date, the US’ Covid-19 assistance to the Philippines has totaled over P1.38 billion or about $27.5 million.

“This is the first time the Philippines has received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a safe, trusted and easy to store shot widely used in the US,” Rose said.

The shipment was delivered through the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) Facility, a global initiative for equitable access to vaccines.

US Embassy in the Philippines Chargé d’Affaires John Law and acting USAid Mission Director Sean Callahan joined Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd in welcoming the arrival of the Johnson & Johnson doses.

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez and National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Karl Chua also witnessed the turnover of the shipment at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“This US 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,” Law said.

The vaccine “will protect millions of lives across the country,” he said.

The Philippines previously received over 7 million vaccine doses through the Covax Advance Market Commitment, a global initiative run by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to support equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines.

The United States is the biggest monetary contributor to Gavi, having already donated more than $2 billion (over P100 billion) to the alliance.