[3] The COVID-19 Immunization Program Management Organizational Structure was formed on October 26 with the intention of it overseeing the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines once these became available.

[5] The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on their part is the agency tasked to review and approve the use and commercial distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines[6] as well as the issuance of an emergency use authorization for the same.

President Rodrigo Duterte to fast-track the government's medical response to the pandemic signed an executive order on December 2, 2020, which allowed the FDA to grant emergency-use authorization (EUA) to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

[12][13] An EUA granted for COVID-19 vaccine or drug remains valid if it fulfills three conditions:[13] The EUAs validity ends one year from the lifting of the public health emergency status declared in response to the pandemic or one year from the date it was registered if a COVID-19 drug or vaccine gets fully registered with the FDA.

Prior to the official roll-out, a dry run was conducted to ensure that the vaccines, especially temperature-sensitive ones, would be rolled-out with minimal problems.

[16][17] The National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) on February 26 has approved the use of the Sinovac vaccine to health care workers.

[34] To hasten the immunization program, the government announced that it was holding "National Vaccination Days" on November 29 until December 1.

Later on, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in coordination and the Department of Health along with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) for a centralized registry for COVID-19 vaccinated residents under a common digital vaccine ID that shall feature a unique QR code.

[40] The same rules applies for fully vaccinated international travelers from countries and territories deemed as "low-risk" and can receive a reduced quarantine period of seven days.

[41] On October 8, 2021, the IATF introduced revised guidelines that fully vaccinated travelers from "low-risk" (green list) and "moderate-risk" (yellow list) jurisdictions can receive a reduced facility-based quarantine up to five days upon presentation of a national digital certificate issued by a foreign government with a reciprocal agreement with the Philippines.

[43][44] The Philippines presently recognizes the vaccination certificates issued by the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Myanmar, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Samoa, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Switzerland, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor–Leste, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay, and Vietnam.

The national government through the Department of Foreign Affairs responding to the request of Germany and the United Kingdom to be exempted from the Philippines' prevailing cap on the deployment of nurses abroad in exchange for vaccines.

[86] The United Kingdom declined the offer refusing to link the vaccines to negotiations on the deployment of Filipino health workers to their country.

[89] Local government units in the Philippines, from individual municipalities and cities and provinces has allocated part of their budgets to procure their own supply of COVID-19 vaccines.

[105] Five local firms are in negotiations with foreign organizations to set up vaccine manufacturing sites in the Philippines as of March 2021.

[108] Health Secretary Francisco Duque has been alleged to have "dropped the ball" on a Pfizer vaccine deal which could have secured 10 million doses by as early as January 2021.

[112] On January 14, the Philippines has secured 17 million doses of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines from British-Swedish pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.

[118] Plans to secure 36 million doses from China's Sinovac have also been subjected to scrutiny in Congress due to its reported efficacy rate.

[129] The first batch of the Sinopharm BIBP vaccine under the brand name Hayat-Vax arrived on August 11, consisting of 100,000 doses, donated by the United Arab Emirates.

[133] As of February 2022, people under priority groups A1 to A5, the rest of adult population and minors (ages 5 to 17 years old) are being allowed to receive vaccination.

The demand for the vaccines is particularly high for Chinese nationals in the country, especially those employed by Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).

[156] The issue has raised the concerns of the Commission on Human Rights,[157] and has also led to the WHO warning the Philippine government that it risks losing access to its share of vaccines provided by COVAX if the practice continues.

[158] A number of suggestions were floated to address line jumping, with Senator Franklin Drilon urging the government to ramp up the country's vaccine supply,[159] and Representative Precious Hipolito, who represents the second district of Quezon City, filing a bill that would amend the Philippines' COVID-19 vaccination law to criminalize the practice.

[160] In 2020, members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG), Cabinet officials, a senator, and the Special Envoy for Public Diplomacy to China received vaccines without clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the Department of Health (DOH).

This was after several Overseas Filipino Worker (OFWs) bound for the territory were reported to have been refused entry due to non-recognition of their vaccine certificates.

[179] A Reuters investigation found that the United States Department of Defense (DoD) undertook a disinformation campaign in the Philippines from 2020 to 2021 which sought to discredit China, in particular its Sinovac vaccine.

Military personnel based in Tampa, Florida operated phony accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter), some of which were more than five years old according to Reuters.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, they disseminated hashtags of #ChinaIsTheVirus and posts claiming that the Sinovac vaccine contained gelatin from pork and therefore was haram or forbidden for purposes of Islamic law.

US diplomats aware of the campaign were against the idea, but they were overruled by the military, which also asked tech companies not to take down the content after it was discovered by Facebook and X.

A retrospective review by the DoD subsequently uncovered other social and political messaging that was "many leagues away" from acceptable military objective.