(Corrects number of AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) vaccines that arrived on Sunday
from 525,600 to 38,400 and total received so far from 1 million
to 525,600, both in 7th graf)
March 6 (Reuters) - Moderna Inc MRNA.O said on Saturday it
has agreed to supply the Philippines government with 13 million
doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, with deliveries set to begin in
mid-2021.
The company will work with regulators to pursue necessary
approvals before distribution, it said in a press release.
Moderna said it expected to reach a separate deal with the
Philippines government and private sector to supply an
additional 7 million doses.
The deal will boost the supply of COVID-19 vaccines in the
Philippines, which on March 1 began its campaign to inoculate 70
million of its 108 million people to achieve herd immunity and
reopen an economy that in 2020 saw its worst contraction on
record.
The Philippines, which is battling one of the worst
coronavirus outbreaks in Asia, reported 3,276 confirmed cases on
Sunday, the third straight day that the daily figure has
remained above 3,000 or levels last seen in October.
Its food and drug regulator has so far approved for
emergency use COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc PFE.N
and BioNTech SE 22UAy.DE , AstraZeneca PLC AZN.L and Sinovac
Biotech SVA.O .
Officials on Sunday also took delivery of 38,400 more doses
of AstraZeneca vaccines, bringing to 525,600 the total number of
AstraZeneca vaccines the Philippines has so far received via the
COVAX facility.
"These vaccines are essential in maintaining the momentum of
our vaccine roll out," Carlito Galvez, the former general who
heads the government's vaccine strategy, said in a statement.
Galvez is leading government negotiations with seven global
vaccine makers to secure 161 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.