Region 7 to receive new batch of COVID-19 vaccines

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Central Visayas is expected to receive another shipment of COVID-19 vaccines next week, the regional health office announced.

Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), confirmed through a recent virtual briefer that the region is set to get a share from the 500,000 doses of CoronaVac that arrived in the country last April 22.

“We are excited to receive more allocation so we can proceed with our vaccination rollout,” said Loreche.

However, she added that they are still waiting further information as to how many doses of the new batch of CoronaVac will be set aside for Central Visayas.

“We don’t have any information yet about this new batch aside that we’re expecting them to arrive here in Central Visayas next week,” Loreche explained.

Last April 22, the Philippines received 500,000 doses of CoronaVac, the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech.

Health officials here are banking on the new shipment of vaccines so localities, and even members of the private sector can already resume their respective inoculation drives.

To recall, the Cebu City Government halted its vaccine rollout for senior citizens as it has already exhausted its supply of COVID-19 vaccines.

Data from the Visayas Vaccine Operations Center (VVOC) showed that as of April 22, a total of 5,793 elderlies in Central Visayas were already administered with the 1st dose of the vaccine.

A total of 572,626 senior citizens in the region are qualified to receive free COVID-19 vaccines from the national government. / dcb

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