Biggest vax shipment from China arrives
THE largest shipment of COVID-19 vaccines purchased by the Department of Health (DoH) arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport yesterday from Beijing, China.
The 1.5 million doses of Sinovac vaccines flown in the country on board Cebu Pacific [CEB] flight 5J671 that landed at 8:13 Friday morning ordered by the government.
Chief implementer of the National Task Force against COVID-19 and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said, “this large shipment of COVID vaccines with Cebu Pacific brings us closer to our goal of protecting every Filipino as fast as possible and we are grateful to Cebu Pacific for joining forces with the government to support us in ensuring the success of this vaccine roll-out.”
CEB Chief Strategy Officer Alexander Lao said in return, “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.”
The Bureau of Customs-NAIA inspected the airway bill of the shipment then expedited the release of 1.5million doses from Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd about 18,165 kilograms in 42 pallets after unloading from the aircraft and loaded in refrigerated vans via electric forklifts.
Philippine Airlines [PAL] and CEB are 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.
It was learned that through the BoC One-Stop-Shop has processed and released more than 5.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines since its first arrival in February 28, 2021.
