250K Doses of Moderna Covid Vaccines Arrive in the Philippines

The Bureau of Customs-NAIA (BOC-NAIA) cleared another batch of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, consisting of 250,800 doses, which arrived via Singapore airlines on July 15, 2021.

Moderna, developed by American drug firm Moderna, Inc., is the seventh COVID-19 vaccine granted with emergency use approval in the Philippines on May 05, 2021, following the earlier FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use in the Philippines namely, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sputnik V Gamaleya, Janssen, and Covaxin.

The importation of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, consigned to the Department of Health (DOH), arrived via Flight No. SQ910 in Terminal 3 at around 1:00 pm and was pre-cleared on July 14 at the BOC-NAIA COVID-19 One-Stop-Shop. Upon arrival, the said vaccines were underguarded until delivery at Zuellig Pharma Inc, the designated DOH Cold Storage Facility.

Currently, this is the 2nd batch of Moderna Covid-19 vaccines since its first arrival last June 27, 2021, and the 31st batch of Covid-19 vaccines cleared by the Bureau of Customs.

The prompt and immediate facilitation of vaccine arrivals is part of the Bureau of Customs’ support and contribution to the national vaccination program of the IATF and DOH. In furtherance of the nation’s quest against COVID-19, BOC, under Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero, and the Port of NAIA, headed by District Collector Carmelita M. Talusan, in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH) and Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), conducted COVID-19 Vaccination Programs last June 25 and June 19, 2021, respectively. The Port of NAIA is also set to conduct its 2nd vaccination program on July 17, 2021.

Under the tripartite supply agreement with Moderna, Inc., which the Philippines signed into last March 2021, 20 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are anticipated to arrive. The Bureau of Customs, through the Port of NAIA, continuously works around the clock to ensure the expeditious facilitation of COVID-19 vaccine shipments, as the country expects influx of vaccine arrivals.