By Celerina Monte

Astra Zeneca, the United Kingdom vaccine against the coronaviru

s disease, is set to arrive in the Philippines on Thursday, Malacanang said on Wednesday.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the 487,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine are part of the country's share from the World Health Organization-COVAX facility.

"This is to confirm that the Philippines is set to receive 487,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines tomorrow, March 4, 2021, 7:30 pm , as part of the first round of allocated doses from the COVAX facility," he said.

He said AstraZeneca’s expected time of arrival is based on the scheduled handover of vaccines.

Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, who is very close to President Rodrigo Duterte, initially said the UK brand vaccine is coming on Thursday.

The allocation for the Philippines was reduced from earlier pronouncement of 525,600 doses by government officials.

Roque has said that President Rodrigo Duterte wants to witness the arrival of AstraZeneca vaccine similar to what he did when the donated 600,000 doses of Sinovac from China arrived at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City last Sunday. DMS