A TOTAL of 539,430 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine donation from the Government of South Korea is expected to arrive on November 30, the Korean Embassy in Manila said.

“The Embassy of the Republic of Korea is happy to support the Philippine government as it seeks to inoculate 15 million Filipinos during the National Covid-19 Vaccination Days from November 29 to December 1, 2021,” the Embassy said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said “The donation is part of the joint efforts made by Korea and the Philippines to protect public health and support the local response to Covid-19 in the Philippines by vaccinating Filipino people.”

This brings to USD210.7 million or approximately PHP10.67 billion Korea’s Covid-19 assistance to the Philippines.

The Embassy said about USD200 million of the amount is in the form of concessional loans to help the Philippines procure enough vaccines in 2021 and support government efforts in scaling up its Covid-19 response.

Korea has also donated 530,000 swab test kits, seven walk-through booths, two extraction equipment, six isolation beds, 970,000 masks, 167,000 hygiene kits, and 1,200 units of personal protective equipment.

Also, Korea distributed rice pouches to help about 365,000 most vulnerable Filipinos during the pandemic.

The Korean Embassy said at least 34 refrigerated trucks for transporting Covid-19 vaccines and four trucks for transporting vaccine-related goods are likewise scheduled for delivery in January 2022.

South Korea’s contribution to the Philippines has reached a total of USD2.1 billion as both states marked their 30th year of development partnership.

Transportation infrastructure accounts for 47 percent of Korea’s official development assistance (ODA) to the country at about USD982 million while disaster risk reduction and humanitarian assistance account for 19 percent or USD410 million, according to the embassy.

Meanwhile, Seoul’s ODA in agriculture amounts to USD358 million.

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Cristina Lee-Pisco