BOC clears 50K doses of Sputnik V vaccine
THE Bureau of Customs-Port of NAIA (BOC-NAIA) has cleared another batch of Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine containing 50,000 doses which arrived via Qatar airlines from Moscow, Russia on May 30, 2021.
The shipment consigned to the Department of Health (DOH) arrived via Flight No. QR928 at Terminal 3 around 10:30 p.m. and was pre-cleared on May 29 at the COVID-19 One-Stop-Shop of BOC-NAIA.
The Sputnik V vaccine was developed by Russia-based Gamaleya Institute. Last March, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave approval to Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use.
This is the third batch of Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine following the first and second arrival both with 15,000 doses, and the 15th batch of COVID-19 vaccines cleared by the Bureau of Customs.
National Task Force against COVID- 19 chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. as well as IATF Chair and Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Marat Pavlo witnessed the arrival of the said vaccine.
Previous vaccines cleared include 5.5 million doses of Sinovac, 2.556 million doses of AstraZeneca, and 193,050 doses of Pfizer.
The BOC-NAIA, under the direction of Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero, ensures that COVID-19 vaccine shipments are given priority and expedited clearance for the national and public interest.
With the momentum that the Bureau of Customs has set in the clearance of vaccine arrivals, through continuous efficiency and compliance with its mandates, BOC-NAIA District Collector Carmelita Talusan assures the public that it will remain steadfast in its efforts of ensuring unhampered delivery of its services, especially in these trying times that the movement of goods, especially COVID-19 vaccines, is deemed both substantial and critical.
