Sunday, February 28, 2021

CORONAVAC ROLLOUT BEGINS; ASTRA DELAYED. Inquirer Newsletter. March 1, 2021.

FINALLY The Philippines’ vaccination drive starts on Monday with the delivery of the initial 600,000 doses of the China-made CoronaVac vaccine, here being unloaded from a Chinese military plane and loaded onto a refrigerated van at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Sunday afternoon. —RICHARD A. REYES

Board Talk

Imagining a regenerative, decarbonized post-pandemic world

Why should we strive for the goal of Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (CN 2050)? Why should we have such a goal when the Philippines is but a tiny fraction—barely 0.4 percent—of global emissions? Shouldn’t the large, developed nations just be tasked with doing this and we, the developing countries, should be given the chance to grow as they have in the past? —Story by Federico R. Lopez

World

47 HK activists hit with subversion rap

Hong Kong police charged dozens of dissidents with subversion on Sunday in the largest use yet of Beijing's sweeping new national security law, as authorities move to cripple the finance hub's democracy movement. —Story by AFP

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CORONAVAC ROLLOUT BEGINS; ASTRA DELAYED

By Maricar Cinco

The Philippines begins its COVID-19 vaccination drive on Monday with the first 600,000 doses of the donated Chinese vaccine CoronaVac in major government hospitals in Metro Manila.

The country has been expecting a bigger launch, but the delivery of 525,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the global vaccine supply pool COVAX on Monday will be delayed by a week due to a supply problem, according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

President Duterte attended a ceremony to mark the arrival of the initial 600,000 doses of Sinovac Biotech’s CoronaVac at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Sunday afternoon. A Chinese military aircraft delivered the vaccines.

“With this very important shipment, I am confident that more batches of vaccines will be available with great dispatch until every Filipino will be given the chance to be vaccinated at the earliest possible opportunity,” Mr. Duterte said.

The President said the Chinese donation underscored the friendly relations between Manila and Beijing.

“I convey my sincere gratitude to the Chinese people and the government of China for this gesture of friendship and solidarity—the hallmark of Philippines-China partnership,” Mr. Duterte said. Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian said “more Chinese vaccines procured by the Philippine government will surely come soon as expected.”

He was referring to 25 million doses of CoronaVac due to be delivered to the Philippines in batches this year.

“It is a fine tradition between China and the Philippines to help each other in trying times. Our two governments and peoples have helped each other and joined hands to fight the pandemic since the outbreak of the virus, forging a closer China-Philippines partnership,” Huang said.

With the arrival of the Sinovac vaccine, the Philippines’ vaccine rollout formally starts, said Carlito Galvez Jr., head of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 and chief implementer of the vaccination program. —WITH REPORTS FROM JEROME ANING, TINA G. SANTOS, DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN, NESTOR CORRALES, DAPHNE GALVEZ AND REUTERS INQ

Editorial

Grave data breach

The recent data breach involving online lending app Cashalo has underlined the risks attendant to the country’s transition to a digital economy. Sensitive information on some 3.3 million users of the online app found its way to the so-called dark web, where all sorts of cyber criminal activities happen.

Read full story: opinion.inquirer.net