Filipinos may be celebrating a “better Christmas” this year with the arrival of the bulk of the national government’s Covid-19 vaccine orders in the coming months, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this statement as he welcomed the arrival Monday of the first batch of 193,050 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines donated through the World Health Organization-led (WHO) COVAX Facility.

Before the arrival of 193,050 Pfizer vaccines on Monday night, he said 7,571,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses had been delivered to the Philippines as of May 8.

The country now has four brands of Covid-19 vaccines in its inventory namely “CoronaVac” from China’s Sinovac Biotech, “AstraZeneca” from a British-Swedish manufacturing company of the same name, “Sputnik V” from Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, and “Pfizer” from an American drugmaker of the same name.

Roque said the government expects to have a total of 11,364,000 doses of different Covid-19 vaccine brands in its inventory for this month alone.

“Ngayong Mayo, inaasahan natin na aabot sa mahigit labing isang milyon or 11,364,000 doses (This May, we expect to reach over 11 million or 11,364,000 doses),” he said in a press briefing from Davao City.

He noted that more Covid-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer (1,100,000 doses), Sinovac (500,000) and Sputnik V (2,000,000) are expected to arrive this month.

With the arrival of more Covid-19 vaccines, Roque expressed hope that Filipinos would be able to spend this year’s Christmas with their families and friends.

“Sa awa ng Diyos at ang patuloy na magpapatupad ng ating Covid-19 plan, hari nawa ay magiging masaya ang ating Pasko kung saan makakasama natin ang ating pamilya at mahal sa buhay (By the mercy of God and as we continue to implement our Covid-19 plan, may our Christmas be a happy Christmas where we can be with our family and loved ones),” he added.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said simulations show that herd immunity could be reached in Metro Manila and six nearby provinces by November, or after a 180-day vaccination drive with 120,000 doses administered daily.

He said the national target for daily vaccination would still be 500,000 jabs per day after the country’s vaccine supplies start to increase by the third quarter.

The government initially aimed to inoculate 70 percent of the country’s 110 million population to achieve herd immunity, but Galvez said the lack of vaccines required adjustment to a “more realistic target.” (PNA)