MANILA, PHILIPPINES — President Rodrigo Duterte welcomed the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility’s promise to replace 3.6 million doses of vaccines in the Philippines that had expired. 

Duterte claimed they had already met with COVAX personnel and requested them to replace not only the donated but also the procured vaccines during his taped Talk to the People, which aired on Wednesday.

According to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, the COVAX facility will replace 3.6 million expired COVID-19 vaccination doses at no additional cost.

“‘Yung COVAX, meron po silang stockpile ng mga bakuna with longer shelf life. So ang gagawin, ‘yung mga nag-expire na sa atin, umabot na ng mga about 3.6 million doses, which is just about 1.46% of our total inventory ng bakuna. So, yes sir, papalitan po ‘yan. Ire-replace ng COVAX facility,” Duque told Duterte.

(COVAX has a vaccination supply with a longer shelf life. They’ll replace the vaccines that have expired, which amounts to around 3.6 million doses or 1.46% of our overall vaccine stock.)

Duterte expressed his delight at the announcement that the expired Covid-19 vaccines would be replaced for free.

COVAX is a global vaccine-sharing program that began in 2020 with the goal of ensuring that COVID-19 vaccines reach the world’s poorest countries.

Meanwhile, Duterte urged Filipino voters to follow basic public health guidelines, particularly on election day.

He encouraged the people to put their faith in health and medical specialists like doctors and scientists, emphasizing that they had thoroughly researched and evaluated the best approaches to address the ongoing health crisis.

The Department of Health reported on Monday that more than 67.4 million people, or 74.98% of the government’s target population, had received full COVID-19 vaccination.

On the other hand, the first booster dose has been given to 12.9 million Filipinos. – WhatALife! 

Source: (gmanetwork.com)

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