PH, Sinovac eye delivery of 1 million vaccine doses this month: exec

MANILA - The Philippine government and China's Sinovac Biotech are negotiating the delivery of another 1 million doses of CoronaVac, the firm's general manager said Monday.

Manila on Sunday received 600,000 shots of Sinovac's jab as a donation from the Chinese government. Malacañang earlier said it secured 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from Sinovac.

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Sinovac reiterates it is independent and not run by the Chinese government, said general manager Helen Yang.

"We're discussing with the Philippine government to arrange another 1 million doses in March, we’re working on that. I see the Philippine government are tough negotiators that we took sometime to develop the plans, strategies," she told ANC's Headstart.

"And then how much after that I think it would depend on how quickly the vaccine is being used in the country."

The country on Monday began its COVID-19 immunization program, with Philippine General Hospital chief Dr. Gerardo Legaspi receiving the first CoronaVac jab.

The second dose of the vaccine is recommended to be injected 14 to 28 days after the initial dose, Yang said.

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