PASAY CITY -- Two different batches of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines comprising a total of 2.5 million doses were pre-cleared by the Bureau of Customs, through the Port of NAIA, from July 29 to 30, 2021.

Today, July 29, a total of 1,500,000 Sinovac vaccines took its landing at the NAIA Terminal 3 at around 7:30AM aboard Flight No. 5J 671. On July 30, another batch of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines are expected to arrive at the same terminal consisting of a total of 1,000,000 doses.

With the direction of Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero to ensure that vaccine shipments are given priority and expedited clearance, prior to the arrivals, the shipments were pre-cleared on July 28, 2021 at the BOC-NAIA COVID-19 One-Stop-Shop upon submission by the Department of Health of all pertinent documents as the consignee.

Since February 2021, more than 30M doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been cleared and released by the Bureau of Customs. 16M of which are Sinovac, 6.8M are AstraZeneca, 350K are Sputnik V, 3.4M are Pfizer, 500K are Moderna, and 3.2M are Johnson & Johnson brand.

Amid the increasing threat of national health crisis brought about by new virus variants, the Bureau of Customs, through the Port of NAIA headed by District Collector Carmelita Talusan, remains committed in facilitating the prompt release of COVID-19 vaccine shipments, as part of its support to the government's national vaccination program and to the recovery of the nation from the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic. (BOC)