BOC clears first batch of Moderna vaccines, 1M Sinovac doses

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The first batch of Moderna vaccines arrived in the Philippines on June 27. and was pre-cleared by the Bureau of Customs on June 25. Photo courtesy of BOC.
  • The Bureau of Customs on June 27 facilitated release of the first batch of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines consisting of 249,600 doses that arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport
  • The vaccines had already been pre-cleared on June 25, 2021 through BOC-NAIA’s COVID-19 One-Stop Shop
  • Of the 249,600 doses, 150,000 will be for government and 99,600 doses for the private sector
  • BOC-NAIA on June 28 cleared an additional one million doses of vaccines from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has facilitated release of the first batch of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, which consisted of 249,600 doses that arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on June 27.

The first batch of the Moderna vaccines, consigned to the Department of Health (DOH), had already been pre-cleared two days previously, on June 25, 2021, through BOC-NAIA’s COVID-19 One-Stop Shop, BOC said in a statement.

In BOC-NAIA earlier had coordination meetings with the DOH and pharmaceutical distributor Zuellig Pharma to prepare for the arrival of the Moderna vaccines.

Of the 249,600 doses, 150,000 will be for the government, while 99,600 doses will be for the private sector. An additional one million doses of Moderna vaccines are expected to arrive in July, while two million more will be shipped by September.

The first batch is part of the tripartite agreement for 20 million doses signed last March between the US-based pharmaceutical and biotech company, the Philippine government, and the private sector. Of the total, 13 million doses were secured by the government, while the remaining seven million were ordered by private firms led by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. for their workers.

Aside from the Moderna vaccines, BOC-NAIA on June 28 cleared an additional one million doses of vaccines from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. The shipment was immediately underguarded by BOC to the Pharmaserv cold storage facility in Marikina City. To date, Sinovac has shipped 12 million doses to the Philippines since February.