Sinigurado ng ambassador ng India sa Pilipinas na darating sa bansa ang 30 milyong doses ng Novavax Covid-19 vaccines sa ikalawa o ikatlong quarter ng taon.

Ibinunyag ni Ambassador Shambhu Kumaran na tapos na ang negosasyon ng India at Pilipinas na pinangunahan ni Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr.

“So this visit of Secretary Galvez and his team, he has representatives of the FDA, the Ministry of Finance, I think the President’s office, etcetera, high-level dele­gation. They will, I believe, conclude the discussions, agree on the supply contract.  And we’re very hopeful that this vaccine can reach early in the third quarter or the late second quarter of this year. So it will provide the backbone for the Philippines vaccination effort in the second half of 2021 this year,” paliwanag ni Kumaran.

Ang naturang 30 milyong doses ay para lamang sa Novavax brand kung saan hindi pa kabilang ang ibang brands.

Dagdag pa ng ambassador, “Thirty million is currently the negotiated amount for the government purchase of Novavax alone.”

Ang Novavax brand ay US-developed vaccine na manufactured sa India.

“We’re very, very happy with this development. The second source of Indian vaccine—as you know, India is the largest manufacturer of vaccines. We are very keen to engage with the Philippines,” wika ni Kumaran.

Mayroon din umanong sariling dinivelop na bakuna ang India na Covaxin. Ito ay ginawa ng kumpanyang Bharat Biotech. Posible umanong magsuplay ang Bharat sa dulong bahagi ng Abril o sa Mayo.