In a press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said there are still more than 17 million doses available in the DOH warehouse.
“We still have enough supply of vaccines in our warehouse. We have a total of 17,488,050 in our warehouse,” said Vergeire.
“We just like to ensure the Filipino people that we still have sufficient stock of vaccines to provide, specifically for our eligible population,” she added.
Vergeire, however, noted that the stockpile includes the 6 million under quarantine while awaiting extension of their shelf life.
She said there are also those that are set to expire either by the first or second quarter of the year.
The declaration of state of calamity due to the Covid-19 pandemic has already expired on December 31, 2022.
With its expiration, the DOH can no longer procure Covid-19 vaccines that have been issued EUAs.
In the event that additional doses become necessary, Vergeire said they can still purchase through the regular procurement system of the government.
“In the event that the State of Calamity lapses, the DOH now goes through the usual mode of procurement for vaccines,” she said.
“We have a provision in Republic Act No. 9184 that we can engage in negotiated procurement,” added Vergeire.
The Covid-19 vaccines available in the country are those of Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sputnik V/Sputnik Light, Janssen, Moderna, and Sinopharm. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)