At least 50,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) single-shot COVID-19 vaccine arrived at the Bohol Panglao International Airport (BPIA) on Monday morning.

The doses which were contained in 11,750 vials were received by Provincial Health Office (PHO) officer-in-charge Dr. Yul Lopez at 10:04 a.m., said Executive Master Sgt. Melinda Basalo of the BPIA police.

The American-made jabs called Janssen were flown from Metro Manila via Philippine Airlines flight PR 2773, Basalo added.

In a text message to the Chronicle, Lopez said the vaccines from J&J will still be allocated for the remaining unvaccinated persons under the A1, A2 and A3 categories.

After the three, those under the A4 category may also get a share of the jabs.

“One dose needed ra ni para ma fully-immunized,” Lopez said.

Earlier, Governor Art Yap claimed that he “finalized the details on the arrival of the vaccines” with Tourism Sec. Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and vaccine czar Sec. Charlie Galvez.

Other localities in Central Visayas were also allocated doses of the Janssen vaccine.

According to Department of Health 7 vaccine operations spokesperson Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, Metro Cebu received 96,450 doses of the vaccine.

In a statement, Negros Oriental Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, disclosed that they received around 33,350 doses of the vaccine brand.

“Said vaccine can also be stored like Sinovac and are for the A1, A2 and A3 or A4 with comorbidity priority groups,” she said.

The Janssen vaccines for Central Visayas were part of the 3.2 million doses donated by the United States government to the Philippines through the COVAX facility.

The jabs arrived in Manila in two batches on July 16 and 17.

Based on data from the Department of Health, the Janssen vaccine has an efficacy rate of 66.1 percent to 66.9 percent, similar to the widely distributed Sinovac vaccine which has an efficacy rate of at least 65 percent. (with R. Tutas)