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‘Friend closer than a brother’: Duterte thanks Japan, US for COVID-19 vaccine donations

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ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA—President Rodrigo Duterte thanked Japan and the United States for donating millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to the Philippines.</p><p>According to Duterte, Japan donated close to 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the country.</p><p>&quot;We thank the Japanese government for their donation of close to 2 million doses of life saving vaccines. Indeed, Japan is a friend closer than a brother ready to help in times of need,&quot; he said in a taped public address aired late Tuesday.</p><p>He also thanked the US for continuously donating much-needed COVID-19 vaccines to the country through the COVAX Facility.</p><p>&quot;Our thanks go also to the United States for providing more than 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines delivered through the facility called COVAX. This is the 7th shipment of vaccines from the United States, totaling approximately 18 million doses of vaccines,&quot; Duterte said.</p><p>&quot;These vaccine deliveries demonstrate the strength of the US-Philippine alliance. The deliveries also demonstrate the wisdom of the Philippines&#x27; decision to do its part in contributing to the COVAX Facility and strengthening its engagement with the United Nations and the World Health Organization.&quot;</p><p>As of October 18, the Philippines has received more than 91.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses. This is expected to reach 104 million doses by the end of October.</p><p>The government has also administered close to 53 million COVID-19 vaccines, with 32 percent of the country&#x27;s adult population already fully vaccinated.</p><p>&quot;We are confident that most, if not all, cities in the country will hit or even surpass the target before Christmas,&quot; Duterte said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/multimedia/infographic/03/23/21/philippines-covid-19-vaccine-tracker">Philippines: COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker</a></li></ul><p>The Philippines last week started vaccinating minors. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/18/21/ph-to-expand-pediatric-covid-19-vaccination-on-friday">Pediatric vaccination to open in 13 more Metro Manila hospitals this week</a></li></ul><p>The country has a total of 2,731,735 COVID-19 cases, of which 63,637 are active.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/19/21/ph-logs-4496-new-covid-19-cases-due-to-low-lab-output">PH reports 4,496 new COVID-19 cases, cites low laboratory output</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1802912" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>