MANILA, Philippines — Health authorities on Thursday recorded 6,100 additional COVID-19 infections, bringing the national caseload 1,165,155. Another 500,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech arrived in the Philippines this morning. It would be "counterproductive" not to announce the brands of COVID-19 vaccines available at inoculation sites, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said as she warned that enforcing such a policy might erode people's trust in the national vaccination program. She was referring to a suggestion made the day before by Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje who expresses concern at the huge crowds, many of them walk-ins, turning up at sites offering vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech. But the interior department said it directed all local government units "to refrain from announcing the brand of vaccines" to be used in a particular vaccination center in favor of disclosing them only when the beneficiaries are on-site.

Source: Philippine Star May 20, 2021 03:00 UTC