MANILA, Philippines — Amid concerns about the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines coming into the country, the Duterte administration is also racing to address the question of where to store temperature-sensitive jabs.
The government is finalizing an P82.5-billion program to purchase 148 million vaccines to inoculate 70 million Filipinos in 2021.
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Asked by Rep. Joet Garcia (Bataan) about the status of cold-storage facilities in the supply line for vaccines, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said at the House committee on health briefing on the national government's vaccination program that it is the manufacturers that will handle the cold storage "all the way to the inoculation sites."
"Our plan will depend on the vaccines because not all are created the same...we can potentially spoil our vaccines if the electricity goes out or is not enough," the health chief said, adding that the health department is also in talks with third-party logistics providers.
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That these talks are happening less than a month before clinical trials are slated in February might be a cause for concern. Industry groups in an earlier Philstar.com story said that the lack of cold storage facilities was a "logistical nightmare" just waiting to happen.
Experts have said that coronavirus vaccines coming into the country would need to be stored in containers large enough enough and capable of temperatures as low as -80 °C to maintain their potency. But the health chief also admitted that a number of provinces and municipalities would not be able to store the Pfizer vaccine owing to the lack of ultracold-storage facilities in their regions.
Galvez added that the national task force would be inspecting storage facilities in the coming week, saying: "We are now preparing the supply agreement. The agreement with Pfizer, that will be end-to-end. Pfizer and us will deliver it to the centers. They already coordinated with the different cold storage associations."
Local chief executives, including Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno, have signaled their intent to build their own refrigeration units, which are expected to be delivered in “coming months,” and that can store around 300,000 vaccines at a time.
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Is 50% efficacy good enough?
Concerns over the efficacy of the 25 million vaccines by China-based Sinovac which have already been purchased by the national government were also brought up at the hearing.
Conclusive figures on the efficacy of Sinovac's vaccine remain elusive and unclear, though clinical trials conducted in Brazil yielded 50.4% efficacy compared to other jabs including that of Pfizer at 95% and AstraZeneca at 70%.
At the same hearing, representatives of the Department of Health asserted that the "50%" efficacy rating in clinical trails in Brazil was an overall rating for mild, moderate and severe disease. Duque said that this was still recommended as it would at the very least prevent severe cases of the virus.
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Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., who was also at the congressional briefing, defended the government's choice to purchase 25 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, claiming that the national government is not favoring any brand nor company in its national vaccination program.
Galvez said at a separate Senate probe Friday that the government can still opt out of its deal for Sinovac vaccines if it so chooses. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque disputed this on Monday, saying the deal is already being finalized.
Flexible priority for vaccination?
Rep. Estrellita Suansing (Nueva Ecija) meanwhile took issue with the national prioritization program on vaccination, which places senior citizens and vulnerable citizens among those first in line for inoculation.
"For a three-year targeted national vaccination program, essential workers came last in the presentation. How can the economy bounce back like this?" she asked.
In response, Galvez admitted that the set priority was still flexible. He expressed openness to the idea of putting young workers ahead in the prioritization.
"What's important is we follow the priority prescribed by the World Health Organization, which is the preservation of health workers and vulnerable citizens."
Why does this matter?
- Rep. Helen Tan (Quezon), health committee chair, has noted that Sinovac's vaccine is cheaper in Indonesia compared to the reported cost in the Philippines, raising concerns over its supposed cost-effectiveness.
- Survey results by the Social Weather Stations suggest that some 47% of the public would not be willing to be vaccinated due to concerns about the safety of the jabs.
- As of the Department of Health's latest case bulletin Sunday, the national caseload in the Philippines has breached 500,000 coronavirus cases. Exactly 24,691 of these are still active cases.
— with reports from Christian Deiparine and Gaea Katreena Cabico