The Philippines’ leading carrier Cebu Pacific delivered its first government-procured vaccine shipment from Beijing to Manila in coordination with the country's health department.

In a statement, the carrier said a total of 500,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on April 29. 

“Our number one priority is to get the country back on track, and we are doing all we can to secure millions of vaccines from various sources all over the world. Collaborating with airlines in this endeavor is of utmost importance – the sooner we secure the vaccines and the faster these are distributed, the quicker we can finally get past this pandemic,” said vaccine czar, Sec. Carlito Galvez, Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force against COVID-19.

“We remain optimistic about the Philippines’ vaccine program and look forward to working even more closely with Cebu Pacific and our other Philippine carriers for future vaccine shipments,” he added.

Michael Ivan Shau, chief operations officer at Cebu Pacific commented: “This delivery marks our first international vaccine shipment ... we remain steadfast in our commitment to support our country’s recovery efforts in every way possible.”

The vaccines were carried via a chartered A330 flight and were immediately released to local authorities upon arrival.

Cebu Pacific noted that it has already transported more than 760,000 doses of vaccines, approximately 264,000 of which were delivered to six key cities in the Philippines, namely Bacolod, Cotabato, Puerto Princesa, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga.