Additional batch of China's Sinovac vaccine arrives in Philippines

MANILA -- The Philippines received an additional batch of the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine from China on Friday morning, said the country's Department of Health (DOH).

According to the DOH, the Philippines has administered more than 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, primarily to frontline healthcare workers and the elderly.

The government aims to inoculate up to 70 million Filipinos this year to achieve herd immunity.

The Southeast Asian country is ramping up vaccination efforts as it continues to battle a surge of COVID-19 infections fuelled by more infectious variants and people's complacency to safety protocols.

"Our speed in vaccination is greatly dependent on the availability of the vaccines," the DOH said.

China 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 has reported a total of 1,080,172 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, including 17,991 deaths.