Philippines logs 2,103 new COVID-19 cases

Manila [Philippines], January 31 (ANI/Xinhua): The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported on Sunday 2,103 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 525,618.
The death toll climbed to 10,749 after 80 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.
It added 11,653 more patients had recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 487,551.
The data showed that 83 health care workers had succumbed to the disease as at least 14,393 medical workers, mostly nurses, and physicians, contracted the virus.
The Philippines, with a population 110 million, has tested over 7.3 million people since the disease emerged in the country in January last year.
The National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez said that the country will likely receive 5.6 million doses of vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca.
The vaccines are expected to arrive "within the first quarter of this year to jumpstart the country's national vaccination program as part of the global efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus," he added.
"Today, we received a letter from Aurelia Nguyen, managing director of the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility, officially informing the Philippine government that the country stands to receive a total of 9,407,400 doses from the two pharmaceutical makers within the first and second quarters of this year," Galvez said in a statement.
The Philippines' Food and Drug Administration has granted both Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca emergency use authorization.
He said the vaccines under COVAX will inoculate healthcare workers, medical-related personnel, and other frontliners.
The Philippines is negotiating with at least seven vaccine-makers, namely Sinovac, Novavax, Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Gamaleya, and plans to buy 148 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate up to 70 million Filipinos this year. (ANI/Xinhua)