As typhoon Odette (international name “Rai”) hits the Philippines last week causing significant devastation in many parts of the Visayas and Mindanao regions, Germany remains committed in its support towards joint recovery and solidarity-based responses through its COVID-19 vaccine donations and other initiatives related to a multilateral COVID-19 response.
Last December 19, German Embassy Manila Economic Counsellor Dr. Georg Maue received the fifth batch of vaccine donations to the Philippines at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), together with representatives from the Department of Health (DOH) and UNICEF. With a total of 1,597,400 doses of Moderna vaccines from the ACT-A/COVAX facility, Germany has donated 7,255,600 doses of Moderna vaccines already following the first two batches that arrived with 3,696,900 doses on December 15 and 1,961,300 doses on December 19, respectively.
Later today, more vaccine doses are expected to arrive at NAIA from Germany through the ACT-A/COVAX program. Already the sixth batch of vaccines to be donated by Germany to the Philippines, the delivery will add another 1,531,000 doses of Moderna vaccines to the 7.2 million doses of Moderna vaccines that arrived in three batches within the last week since Wednesday. German Embassy Manila Economic Counsellor Dr. Georg Maue is also expected to receive the donations today. With the arrival of the Moderna vaccines today, Germany will have already donated a combined total of 10.4 million (10,424,700) doses of both Astra Zeneca and Moderna vaccines out of the more than 11 million vaccine doses that has been earmarked for the Philippines.
Germany aims to donate a total of 175 million vaccine doses worldwide, 100 million of which will be donated by the end of 2021, mostly through COVAX. This puts Germany in second place in absolute terms as the largest donor of vaccines globally, also in terms of deliveries already made. The Philippines is among the primary destinations for these donations. On the whole, the EU member-states are the largest donor of vaccines to the Philippines.
Germany’s commitment towards joint recovery, international solidarity and cooperation benefits the Philippines largely through the vaccine donations that are aimed at supporting the national vaccination programs of the country and its efforts towards a fast and sustainable recovery. At the same time, Germany’s support for the Philippines’ COVID response is reflected in its support for funding programs of international organizations such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Philippines.
In the Philippines, IOM was awarded with an estimate EUR 1.24 million which is being used to improve the COVID-19 response and prevention capacity of frontline workers such as health practitioners and Philippine Coast Guards. Key equipment is being provided for them to deliver crucial services such as COVID-19 testing, quarantine, surveillance, vaccines, and treatment, to the most vulnerable populations including migrants, Filipino returnees, internally displaced persons and communities in remote areas of the country. As parts of the Philippines, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao regions, faced devastation from being hit by typhoon Odette, parts of the funding for this COVID response project is being redirected to provide assistance to these affected communities as well.