President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday will lead Philippine officials in receiving the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines from China's Sinovac, the first to arrive in the country.
The shipment of 600,000 CoronaVac doses will land in Villamor Airbase in Pasay City, said the President's former aide Sen. Bong Go.
"Umabot po tayo sa February. On the last day po ay darating na po ang bakuna," Go said.
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Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian hailed the expected delivery as proof of the close ties between Manila and Beijing.
"The donation of vaccines is another testament to the solidarity as well as profound friendship and partnership between our two peoples and two countries," he said in a statement.
CoronaVac, the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Sinovac, is the third to receive authorization for emergency use in the Philippines after Pfizer's and AstraZeneca's jabs.
The China-made vaccine has been found to be up to 91.25% effective in trials in Turkey but other, more robust trials in Brazil only demonstrated an efficacy rate of around 50.4%.
The Philippines has ordered 25 million doses from Sinovac and has negotiations with other vaccine manufacturers for more supplies.
