The Philippines is already assured of up to 108 million doses of vaccines for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as it has signed term sheets with at least five vaccine suppliers, said National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr.

“On our negotiations, we have already signed the term sheet of five. We have already locked in the supply of 106 to 108 million doses including for the single dose,” Galvez said in a pre-recorded meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte.

The government since late last year initiated negotiations with various pharmaceutical companies like China’s Sinovac, British drugmaker AstraZeneca, US companies Pfizer and Moderna, and the Serum Institute of India.

“All in all, by this February, second week, we’re trying to come up with the supply agreements with the vaccine manufacturers and we will also include the two remaining contracts we are negotiating,” said Galvez.

“We are expecting up to 146 to 148 million doses. This is excluding the COVAX [facility where] we are assured to have more or less 40 million doses,” he added.

The Philippines is set to receive the first wave of Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility of the World Health Organization (WHO) starting mid-February.

In a letter addressed to the Department of Health (DOH), COVAX Facility Managing Director Aurélia Nguyen said their office will distribute 117,000 doses of Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine and 5.5 million to 9.29 million of indicative doses of AstraZeneca AZD1222 vaccine to the Philippines, subject to the UNICEF Supply Division and Pan American Health Organization establishing supply agreements with the manufacturers.

WHO’s COVAX is a global initiative that ensures rapid and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines for all countries regardless of their income level.