U.S. provides additional 188,370 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to PHL

On September 2, the United States delivered an additional 188,370 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines as part of its worldwide effort to help end COVID-19.

The shipment was provided directly to the Philippines by the U.S. government, with delivery via the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility, a global initiative to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.  This is the U.S. government’s third bilateral vaccine donation to the Philippines, following its July delivery of 3.2 million Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccines and August delivery of 3 million Moderna vaccine doses to the country.

USAID Philippines Office of Health Director Michelle Lang-Alli joined Assistant Secretary Wilben Mayor, head of the National Task Force Against COVID-19’s sub-task group on current operations, and other stakeholders at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to welcome the arrival of the new batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines on the evening of September 2.

In total, the Philippines has now received more than 13.4 million vaccine doses through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), a global initiative run by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.  The United States is the largest monetary contributor to Gavi, having already provided nearly Php200 billion ($4 billion) to the Alliance.

The United States has worked closely with Philippine stakeholders throughout the pandemic to protect public health and support the local response to COVID-19.  To date, total U.S. government COVID-19 assistance to the Philippines amounts to over Php1.38 billion ($27.5 million).