PASAY CITY -- President Rodrigo Roa Duterte thanked the Russian government for its biggest shipment of Sputnik V vaccines to the Philippines to date, as 2,805,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines arrived in the country on Monday evening.

The latest Sputnik V vaccine delivery consists of Components 1 and 2 which can fully inoculate 1.4 million Filipinos.

“Let me express my gratitude to the Russian government for the continued supply of life-saving COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines,” President Duterte said.

“The deliveries affirm Russia’s commitment to achieve local vaccine equity and improve vaccine accessibility to countries especially the Philippines,” he added.

The fresh vaccine shipment is part of the procurement contract of the Philippines with Russia for 10 million doses of Sputnik V. Russia has already delivered 7.19 million of these procured doses.

National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. also thanked the Russian government for the invaluable assistance it has provided to the Philippines’ pandemic response efforts.

“We would like to thank the Russian government and its people for the act of kindness and generosity in providing us access to 10 million life-saving vaccines of Sputnik V. We will always remember and we will never forget your compassion during this time of need,” he said.

Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Marat Pavlov said his country remains committed to help the Philippines in its fight against the pandemic.

“We believe that there is no room for complacency. I would like to emphasize that Russia will continue to support and assist the government of the Philippines in achieving the national goals related to public health,” Pavlov said.

“The negotiation on another very efficient Russian vaccine, Sputnik Light, is underway. We look forward to its successful conclusions,” he continued.

Incentivize 4Ps beneficiaries

Meanwhile, Galvez said he is pushing for the mandatory vaccination of over 4 million beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps.

He stressed that there is a need to incentivize people in order to encourage them to get the COVID-19 jab, explaining that once 4Ps beneficiaries have themselves vaccinated, they will be entitled to receive the financial assistance.

The vaccine czar emphasized that implementing the said policy will actually spare the 4Ps beneficiaries from the high cost of COVID-19 treatments.

“Unang una, pag nagkasakit ang tao, balewala ang 4Ps na ayuda kasi mas malaki pa [ang gastos]. Php2 million ang magagastos niya minimum kapag na-long-COVID siya. Kumbaga, parang nalulunod na ang tao at vaccine ang pangsagip sa kanya. Kapag umayaw siya, at nakikita mong nalulunod na, anong gagawin natin?,” Galvez said.

“Nakita nating nasa risk area itong mga tumatanggap ng 4Ps. The mandate is at the higher perspective of the state’s constitutional mandate of protecting the people and the state. ‘Yun ang dapat nating isipin, ‘yung higher mandate,” he added.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año also supported the proposal, saying that only 12% of the 4.4 million 4Ps beneficiaries have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

“Ang mga indigent people, we consider them as vulnerable sector because kulang ang pera kung magkasakit sila sa ospital. Para maiwasan ‘yan, kailangan talaga maprotektahan sila through vaccine.”

Both officials said they are leaving it to the Department of Justice to study the legalities involved in requiring the mandatory vaccination for 4Ps beneficiaries.

100% vaccination rate in NCR

As of November 9, the country has received a total of 117,245,400 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

Emphasizing that there are no more problems in terms of vaccine supply, Galvez expressed confidence that Metro Manila LGUs can fully vaccinate 100% of their target population before the year ends.

“I believe before the end of the year, kaya nila ‘yung 100% kasi ngayon, imagine, first dose nila is 98%,” Galvez said.

“Then dumagdag pa ‘yung 1.2 million na mga batang babakunahan nila. So nakikita ko ang NCR, honest to goodness, makakaya nila by end of December,” he added.

As of November 7, Metro Manila has inoculated 98.94% of its target population with the first dose, while 89.85% are fully vaccinated.

A total of 65,764,376 vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, of which 35,656,279 Filipinos have received their first dose, while 30,108,097 individuals have been fully vaccinated, as of November 9. (National Task Force Against COVID-19)