The United States welcomes the May 8 arrival of two million additional doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines. This is the third shipment of vaccines made available through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment, a global initiative to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. The United States already has donated Php97.2 billion ($2 billion) to COVAX, by far the largest contribution, to ensure the Philippines, and other countries, receive COVID-19 vaccines.
U.S. Embassy representatives joined Philippine Secretary of Health Francisco Duque III, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr., and other stakeholders at the arrival of the vaccines on Saturday.
With this delivery, the Philippines has now received more than 2.5 million vaccines through COVAX. In total, COVAX will provide 44 million doses to Filipinos.
The first deliveries of 525,600 AstraZeneca vaccines took place in early March and were used to inoculate frontline health care workers, senior citizens, and individuals with comorbidities. In the coming weeks, an additional COVAX allocation of 4.5 million doses of AstraZeneca is expected. COVAX also will provide over 2.3 million doses of the U.S. company Pfizer vaccine, with the first delivery imminent.
In February, the U.S. government announced a total planned contribution of Php194.4 billion ($4 billion) to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment. The United States already has provided an initial Php97.2 billion ($2 billion), and the Philippines is among the first countries in the region to have received COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility. The U.S. is by far the largest contributor to the COVAX effort, funding one in five vaccinations in the Philippines provided by the facility.
The United States has worked closely with Philippine partners throughout the pandemic to protect public health and strengthen local response to COVID-19. To date, total U.S. government COVID-19 assistance to the Philippines amounts to nearly Php1.3 billion ($27 million).
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