Tuguegarao City, Cagayan – In hopes to avoid wastage from 27 million expiring doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country, the Philippine government is now finalizing its donation plans to Myanmar and Papua New Guinea.
The said 27 million various COVID-19 vaccines are set to expire in July 2022, and are procured both by the government, the private sector, while some are donated by other countries.
The Senate has estimated the expiring vaccine doses to be worth over P13 billion.
The Department of Health said in a presser on Tuesday, April 5, that it is currently identifying which brands and how many jabs from the Philippines’ stock can be sent to the two countries.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a statement, “We are still finalizing our inventories. We are finalizing our arrangements with the two countries. Hindi lahat ng excess natin sa stockpile ay ido-donate. Magdo-donate lang tayo ng kailangan nila at sa tingin natin maaari natin itulong.”
Malacañang disclosed that many secretaries of different government agencies gave the request to donate some of the vaccine shots procured by the state.
Presently, there are 65.8 million Filipinos who are fully-vaccinated along with only 12 million who have their boosters. TNF