Philippines receives more Sinovac vaccines from China

MANILA -- China delivered an additional batch of Sinovac CoronaVac vaccines to the Philippines on Monday to support the Southeast Asian country's COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

Carlito Galvez, chief implementer of the government's measures to combat COVID-19, and Heath Secretary Francisco Duque received the fresh shipment of CoronaVac vaccines at the airport in the capital.

China was the first to deliver coronavirus vaccines to the Philippines. It donated the first batch of CoronaVac to the Philippines on Feb 28, allowing the country to kick off its vaccination drive on March 1.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) said it has administered more than 8.4 million doses of vaccines. More than 2 million people have been fully vaccinated so far. The government aims to vaccinate up to 70 million Filipinos this year.

The Philippines is still grappling with a steady rise of COVID-19 infections, with a total of 1,397,992 confirmed cases and 24,372 deaths as of Sunday.