Philippines starts coronavirus vaccinations but supply, demand uncertain

A health worker receives the Sinovac Biotech's Coronavac vaccine on the first day of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) inoculation drive in the Philippines, at the Lung Center of the Philippines, Quezon City, Metro Manila, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

The Philippines kicked off its COVID-19 vaccination programme on Monday, with health workers the first to be inoculated in a delayed campaign as the country tries to secure supplies to address one of Asia's most stubborn coronavirus epidemics.

Healthcare workers in six government hospitals in the capital region received Sinovac Biotech vaccines donated by China on Sunday, the only doses the Philippines has received so far.

Health workers stage a protest calling for free, safe, and most efficacious coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines, as the government kicks off its COVID-19 vaccination campaign with Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac vaccines, outside the Lung Center of the Philippines, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

"You truly are the heroes during this time of the pandemic so it is just right that you be the first in line to receive the vaccines," Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque told health workers.

The Philippines has reported 576,352 COVID-19 cases overall, including infections with the more infectious British coronavirus variant. It has recorded 12,318 deaths.

It aims this year to inoculate 70 million of its 108 million people to achieve herd immunity and reopen an economy that in 2020 saw its worst contraction on record, due largely to tight restrictions on movement in place since mid-March.

A health worker holds a vial of Sinovac Biotech's Coronavac vaccine on the first day of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) inoculation drive in the Philippines, at the Lung Center of the Philippines, Quezon City, Metro Manila, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

The Philippines is playing catchup with its Southeast Asian neighbours despite having one of the region's worst coronavirus problems.

It was the last to start its immunisation programme and has a challenge not only to ensure supply of vaccines, but to convince its people to take them, amid concerns over safety.

Carlito Galvez, the former general who heads the government's vaccine strategy, said the Philippines might not move forward unless everyone is immunised.

Philippines' Health Secretary Francisco Duque vaccinates a health worker with Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac vaccine on the first day of the country's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) inoculation drive, at Lung Center of the Philippines, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

"It is our moral obligation," said Galvez, who received his injection live on television and said the vaccines were "doses of hope".

The government has been in talks with most major manufacturers of coronavirus vaccines for a combined 161 million doses but has struggled to conclude deals, while stiff competition has tightened supply.

The programme's launch has been delayed several times, with the latest setback a delay to the 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine that were supposed to arrive on Monday.

Hospital workers join a protest calling for free, safe, and most efficacious coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines from the gates of the Lung Center of the Phillipines where the government kicked off its COVID-19 vaccination campaign with Sinovac Biotech's Coronavac vaccines, at Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

(Reporting by Karen Lema and Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Martin Petty)