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1.5M COVID vaccines from China arrive via Cebu Pacific

May 7, 2021 Itchie G. Cabayan 564 views

Cebu Pacific (CEB) safely delivered on May 7 the single largest vaccine shipment to the country yet, in coordination with the Department of Health.

CEB said a total of 1.5 million doses from Beijing arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport via 5J 671 at 8:13 a.m.

CEB spokesperson Candice Iyog said the airline is in full support of the nation’s vaccination program as it helps ensure these life-saving COVID-19 vaccines are flown safely to the Philippines, and distributed across the rest of the archipelago.

“This large shipment of COVID vaccines with Cebu Pacific brings us closer to our goal of protecting every Filipino as fast as possible. We are grateful to Cebu Pacific for joining forces with the government to support us in ensuring the success of this vaccine roll-out,” said Sec. Carlito Galvez, Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force against COVID-19.

Galvez was joined, among others, by Health Sec. Francisco Duque III and Manila International Airport Authority public affairs officer Connie Bungag.

“We are thankful for the continued trust of the Philippine government and the DOH, and restate our intention to support our country’s fight against COVID-19 in any way we can. We look forward to picking up more vaccines from across the globe and aid in distributing across our widest domestic network,” said Alexander Lao, CEB chief strategy officer.

Upon unloading from CEB’s A330 aircraft, all vaccines were thoroughly inspected by the authorities prior to uplifting to refrigerated trucks via electric forklifts.

On May 4, CEB transported 6,200 COVID-19 vaccines from Manila to Puerto Princesa. Apart from Palawan, the carrier has delivered more than half a million doses of vaccines to six other cities in the country namely Bacolod, Cotabato, Legazpi, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga.

Following last week’s shipment of 500,000 Sinovac vaccines from Beijing to Manila, CEB has already transported more than 2.5 million COVID-19 doses since March 2021.

CEB operates the widest domestic network in the Philippines covering 32 destinations, on top of its six international destinations. Its 74-strong fleet, one of the youngest in the world, includes two dedicated ATR freighters and one A330 freighter.

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