First Shipment of Moderna Vaccines Arrives
The Philippines on Sunday night received its first shipment of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, bringing the country's vaccine inventory to 14.3 million as the government expands inoculation in more priority areas.
A total of 249,600 doses arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, a portion of which was procured by the private sector. A million more doses of Moderna are expected in July.
Moderna was the seventh vaccine brand to get emergency use approval from the Food and Drug Administration and claims to be 95% effective against the virus based on clinical trials.
The American biotech firm has agreed to supply the Philippine government 13 million COVID-19 vaccine doses. Ports tycoon Enrique Razon led a private sector order for 20 million doses.
The country aims to achieve "population protection" by November this year, with at least 50 million people vaccinated.
This story originally appeared on Reportr.World. Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
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