MANILA, Philippines — Nearly two million COVID-19 vaccine doses are set to expire by the end of June, a health official said, adding that the Department of Health (DOH) has already sought out replacements.

“We are expecting, kung hindi ma-jab, about one, almost two million kung hindi magamit by end of June,” DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said during Friday’s Laging Handa briefing.

(We are expecting, that about one, almost two million doses will expire if they are not used by the end of June.)

According to Cabotaje, the DOH has already submitted to the COVAX facility a “demand forecast” of 34 million doses to act as a replacement for expired or near-expiring vaccine shots.

“On May 4, 2022, the DOH submitted a demand forecast of 34 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Ito po yung parang pampalit, yung nag-expire na at saka yung pwede pang ma-expiran, which includes brands such as Sinovac, AstraZeneca and Pfizer,” she said.

(On May 4, 2022, the DOH submitted a demand forecast of 34 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. These will be the replacement for expired and near-expiring doses, which includes brands such as Sinovac, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer.)

“From the communication we received from COVAX, the replacement for vaccines includes vaccines from all sources,” she added.

This means that COVAX will replace expired doses, whether or not they were among those donated through the facility, Cabotaje explained.

“They will also consider some of the vaccines that have been procured by the national government, even our private sector and our local government. Tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang ating coordination [Our coordination is continuous] with the COVAX,” she added.

At present, the government is able to administer 200,000 vaccine doses daily.

As of May 26, around 69.1 million individuals have been fully vaccinated or 76.87 percent of the 77-million target population, Cabotaje noted.