China delivers more Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines to Philippines

MANILA, June 24 (Xinhua) -- China delivered on Thursday an additional batch of Sinovac CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines.

"The new shipment is the fourth batch of Sinovac vaccines delivered this month," Carlito Galvez, the chief implementer of the government's measures to combat COVID-19, said in a statement.

Galvez and Health Secretary Francisco Duque received the vaccines at the airport in the capital.

China was the first to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines. It donated the first batch of CoronaVac to the Philippines on Feb. 28, allowing the Southeast Asian country to kick off its vaccination drive on March 1.

The Department of Health has administered more than 8.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, primarily to frontline healthcare workers, the elderly, and those with underlying medical conditions.

Over 2.1 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated so far. The country aims to vaccinate up to 70 million people this year, depending on the supply.

The Philippines has reported 1,372,232 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday, including 23,928 deaths.