MANILA: The Philippines received 600,000 vaccine doses from China Sunday, kickstarting the country’s inoculation drive despite concerns over the Sinovac jab’s effectiveness. Top government officials and health workers will be the first on Monday to receive the Chinese-made vaccine — called CoronaVac — just days after the drug regulator approved it for emergency use.

President Rodrigo Duterte, whose government has been under fire over delays in procuring vaccines, oversaw the delivery of the doses at a military air base.

Around 525,000 doses of AstraZeneca jab, distributed as part of the global Covax global inoculation programme, were also supposed to arrive on Monday, but Health Secretary Francisco Duque later said the shipment will be delayed for a week due to global supply problems.

The regulator did not recommend CoronaVac for healthcare workers due to its comparatively low efficacy.