The Philippines on Friday night received an additional 100,000 doses of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine from Russia, bringing the country's vaccine inventory to 12.3 million as the government began vaccinating economic frontliners.
The latest shipment is part of the 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses the Philippines is set to receive this month. On Thursday, a total of 3.2 million vaccine doses were also delivered to the country, of which one million are from Sinovac and 2.2 million are from Pfizer.
Sputnik V, developed by Russia's Gamaleya Institute, was authorized by the Philippines for emergency use last March. Russia has touted the vaccine as the first in the world. The jab is 91.6% effective against COVID-19, based on clinical trials.
The country aims to achieve "population protection" by November this year, with at least 50 million people vaccinated.
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