The Philippines has received 10,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines from the United Arab Emirates’ government.
The shipment of 100,000 Sinopharm doses arrived on Wednesday at 1:55PM.
This is the first COVID-19 vaccine donation of the UAE to the Philippines.
RELATED STORY: UAE starts distribution of locally-made Hayat-Vax COVID-19 vaccine
An Etihad airplane carried the delivery which landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Assistant Secretary Wilben Mayor and UAE embassy Acting Chargé d’Affaires Khalid Alhajeri received the vaccine donation.
Al Hajri said this move aligns with the UAE leadership’s keenness to support efforts made by authorities in the Philippines to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He noted that the Philippines was among the first countries to receive medical aid from the UAE, wherein the UAE sent an aircraft carrying 7.3 metric tons of medical supplies in April 2020.
READ ON: UAE launches ‘Hayat-Vax’
The vaccine donation is separate from the 1 million doses of Sinopharm procured from China, according to Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez.
Around 1,000 Filipinos participated in the clinical trials of Sinopharm in the UAE which began last December.
