Government: Limited global supply hampering vaccine deals

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday assured the public that the government is exerting all efforts to secure cost-effective COVID vaccines for the country.

“The entire vaccine cluster, with our vaccine czar Secretary Charlie Galvez at the helm, is doing everything to secure cost-effective vaccines for the Philippines at the soonest possible time,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque said in a statement.

Duque issued the statement amid allegations on snail-paced negotiations between the Philippine government and vaccine manufacturers.

National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez clarified that the supply agreement negotiations are ongoing, and that the current limited global supply prevents vaccine manufacturers from entering supply agreements with the government.

In a previous television interview, Galvez stressed that a supply agreement is a binding contract and that negotiating supply agreement is a complicated process, which provides for specific details such as payment schemes and definite delivery dates, among others.

Due to the binding nature of supply agreements and given the limited supply of vaccines globally, Galvez said manufacturers have not been able to commit specific delivery dates, thus preventing them from entering into supply agreements with the national government.

Galvez reported that no indicative delivery dates have been provided by any of the manufacturers the country is in talks with, either.

But the Philippine government has already completed the first set of requirements set by COVAX, which includes documents pertaining to the country’s readiness to receive vaccines, as well as the deployment plan.

The government is now awaiting other documentary requirements, which have yet to be provided by the COVAX Facility.

With the expected arrival of vaccines from the COVAX Facility, Duque said the government is focusing efforts toward ensuring the country’s readiness to roll out the vaccines.

Duque called for cooperation in addressing the persistent issue of vaccine hesitancy.

“We want everyone to be assured that vaccines are safe and effective,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC) took the cudgels for the Food and Drug Administration amid accusations of slow FDA action in approving vaccines.

HPAAC member Dr. Aileen Espina said the FDA is just thoroughly scrutinizing applications for emergency use authority (EUA).

“We should not be in a hurry. Just because they say the vaccine is here, it should not be taken as it can already be purchased and used,” Espina said in a virtual briefing on Friday.

She said the FDA is ensuring that the problem created by the Dengvaxia controversy can be avoided.

Another HPAAC member, Dr. Leonila Dans, said it’s the vaccine manufacturers that are slow in submitting the requirements and not the FDA.

“I think we need to explain that the manufacturers are yet to submit the requirements. It is just in press releases that’s why the people thought the FDA is slow. It’s not,” Dans said.

If the manufacturers would not be able to provide the required documents, Dans said their application for EUA will not be approved.

Meanwhile, DOH logged an additional 1,928 COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the reported total number of cases to 549,176, of which 93.2 percent or 511,743 have survived, including 10,967 newly reported recoveries.

Active cases stand at 25,918, accounting for 4.7 percent of total cases. The bulk or 93.1 percent of the active cases are mild and asymptomatic.

An additional eight deaths brought to 11,515 the total number of COVID-related deaths. Mortalities account for 2.10 percent of total cases.