MANILA, Philippines — Government on Sunday announced that it has struck a supply deal for 40 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine which is seen to reach the country by August. 
Vaccine czar Carlito Gavlez Jr. said he signed the agreement on Saturday along with Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, marking the country’s biggest vaccine procurement so far this 2021.
“We are very happy to report that the government and the management of Pfizer have finally concluded our negotiations,” he said in a statement.
The country’s vaccine rollout began in March, with 2.09 million now fully vaccinated out of the 50 to 70 million goal this year. 
Galvez said the 40 million doses will start by August, and the shipments will be delivered in bulk. The purchase is separate from the supply of Pfizer doses that the Philippines got from the COVAX Facility in May and this month.
He added that the drugmaker was able to commit doses as demand for the jabs eased in wealthy countries, which have vaccinated a significant number of their population.
The amount for the purchase was not disclosed, but the official said it will be financed by the Asian Development Bank. 
Government secured an P82.5 billion funding from Congress for procuring the jabs. Apart from Pfizer, other deals were with Sinovac, Sputnik V and Moderna.
Galvez said the scheduled deliveries of Pfizer and Moderna will coincide with opening the vaccination to the general population, which include those 12 to 15 years old.
The two jabs had been cleared in the United States for emergency use on teenagers, with Pfizer also getting local regulators’ approval for the same in the country.
So far, the Philippines has administered more than eight million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. The deal with Pfizer is seen to help stabilize the country’s supply, and ramp up vaccinations.
LATEST UPDATE: June 20, 2021 – 12:26pm
The national government has so far secured two official deals for COVID-19 vaccine supplies in the Philippines, one with Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac and another with the Serum Institute of India.
Watch this space for bite-sized developments on the vaccines in the Philippines. (Main image by Markus Spiske via Unsplash)
The Philippine government signs a supply agreement for 40 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. says.
“We are very happy to report that the government and the management of Pfizer have finally concluded our negotiations. Secretary Duque and I signed yesterday the supply agreement for the biggest and most decisive deal we had for 2021,” Galvez says.
The deliveries of the vaccines will begin “after eight weeks starting August” and the shipments will be delivered in bulk, according to the vaccine czar. —  Photo from NTF COVID-19
The Philippines breaches the 8 million mark in the number of anti-COVID-19 jabs administered, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr says.
“There’s no letup in our vaccination campaign. All sectors of society are working together so that we can start to move on from this pandemic, bring back a greater sense to our lives, and further open up our economy,” Galvez says.
Data from the National Vaccination Operations Center show that as of June 18, a total of 8,050,711 jabs have been administered nationwide. Of this figure, 5,953,810 were given as the first dose, while 2,096,901 were administered as the second dose.
The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines for private sector use arrives in the Philippines on Thursday.
At least 1.5 million does of Chinese-made Sinovac vaccines lands in Manila, 500,000 of which will be for the sole use by companies and private organizations for their inoculation efforts for employees and qualified personnel.
This is part of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s tripartite agreement with IP Biotech, Inc. and the national government. — Photo release from FFCCCII
Japan is donating AstraZeneca vaccines to the Philippines, Japanese Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko announces on his Twitter account.
“[W]e’ll make sure to deliver them at the soonest possible time so no one gets left behind during this pandemic,” he also says.
Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo says that as far as he knows all of the sitting justices of the Supreme Court have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
He says the court asked for justices to be classified as A4. Some of the justices are also already senior citizens.