Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez cited the need for more Covid-19 vaccines in the islands of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi due to their proximity to Malaysia and Indonesia, which are currently experiencing surges of the Delta variant of Covid-19.
THE Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) received its first batch of 30,000 single-shot Janssen vaccines manufactured by Johnson and Johnson.
The Janssen vaccines were delivered by PharmaServ Express to Tawi-Tawi, where they were welcomed by BARMM Minister of Health Basharay Latiph and Department of Health-ARMM Assistant Secretary for Admin and Finance Abdulhalik Kasim.
According to National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the vaccines will be distributed to the municipalities of Sitangkai, Turtle Island and Mapun.
Galvez said BARMM is expected to get more vaccines as more than 300,000 doses have been allocated to the area from the 10 million doses of vaccines received by the national government this month. (See also: PH to receive 3.2-M Janssen vax doses on July 19 )
"Our main consideration in deploying these vaccines to areas with reported cases of Delta variant is because these J&J doses only require one shot," Galvez said, noting there is a need to protect Tawi-Tawi due to its proximity to Indonesia and Malaysia, which are both experiencing surges in Covid-19 cases due to the Delta variant.
Meanwhile, Galvez has committed to provide more Covid-19 vaccines to northern Mindanao amid the reported cases of Delta variant in the area.
Earlier, PharmaServ Express shipped around 26,660 doses of Johnson and Johnson's single dose Covid-19 vaccine to Misamis Oriental and a total of 26,660 Janssen vials to Cagayan de Oro. (BL)
Tags: #Covid19vaccine, #vaccinedistribution, #Janssen, #Sulu, #TawiTawi, #Deltavariant