BOC assures Pinoys of unhampered access to COVID-19 vaccines, PPEs
SINCE the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago, the Bureau of Customs (BOC), under Comm. Rey Leonardo Guerrero, has done it shares in the national effort towards recovery by ensuring the quick release of vaccines, personal protective equipment (PPEs) and other health and medical items, classified as “essential goods.”
Assistant Commissioner and agency spokesperson, Atty. Vincent Maronilla, citing official data, said that as of March 2022, the BOC successfully processed and cleared 16,142 shipments of PPEs and 243 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Of the total cleared vaccines, 56 million are Sinovac, 1 million are Sinopharm, 100 thousand are Sinopharm (Hayat Vax), 38.8 million are AstraZeneca, 91 million are Pfizer, 10 million are Sputnik V, 34 million Moderna, and 12.7 million are Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
The vaccines were sourced from China, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Russia.
Most vaccines were processed at the BOC – Port of NAIA while the rest were through the Port of Davao and Subport of Mactan in Cebu.
“These vaccines underwent advance clearance processing to ensure their expeditious release and delivery,” the official said.
To ensure safe delivery, “underguarding” duties were also done by the BOC’s CoVax Special Handling Taskforce composed of members from NAIA’s Customs Examiners, Enforcement and Security Service, and Aircraft Operations Division.
The immediate clearance of PPEs and Covid-19 vaccines was made possible through the One-Stop-Shop of the BOC – Port of NAIA and the Bureau’s close coordination with the Department of Health (DOH) and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
