Cebu Pacific flies 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from China

Aviation Updates Philippines – Filipino low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific Air flew 500,000 doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccines from Beijing, China to Manila, Philippines on Thursday, April 29, 2021, in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH).

Photo from Cebu Pacific

Flight 5J-671, operated by Cebu Pacific's Airbus A330-300 preighter (RP-C3345), touched down at 7:05 am at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after a four-hour flight from Beijing.

Philippine government officials, including Vaccine czar Carlito Galves, among others, welcomed the arrival of additional government-purchased vaccines from China.

"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," added Galvez.  

"This delivery marks our first international vaccine shipment and we are grateful for the trust and confidence of the DOH. More importantly, we remain steadfast in our commitment to support our country's recovery efforts in every way possible," says Michael Ivan Shau, Chief Operations Officer at Cebu Pacific.

So far, Cebu Pacific has transported 760,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines, approximately 264,000 of which were delivered to six key cities in the Philippines, namely Bacolod, Cotabato, Puerto Princesa, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga.