Government officials said that there is no definitive date yet on when the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines will arrive in the Philippines.
Earlier this month, Presidential Spokesperson Roque and other government officials said that the vaccines may arrive on February 15 but that did not happen.
Galvez said that the arrival of the vaccines will be delayed for another, but as of February 19, Galvez could no longer give an exact date on the vaccine arrival.
Malacañang said that the 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines from China will also be delayed from its supposed February 23 arrival since it has yet to get its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration.
“Hindi naman puwedeng hindi natin basahin at hindi natin analisahin. Lalo na kasi ‘yong Sinovac, hindi naman published ‘yong kanilang data. Hindi pa ito nailabas sa isang peer-reviewed journal ano ‘yong contents noong bakuna, kung mayroon ba itong halimbawa, nakaka-allergy,” FDA director general Eric Domingo said.
“We just want to do extra care and, you know, due diligence. Ayaw natin na sa huli, kapag pinayagan mo na’t nandito na, at tsaka tayo magkakaroon ng duda,” he added.
