Congress to pass vaccination indemnity bill next week

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has vowed to pass on Monday the measure expediting the purchase of coronavirus vaccines and providing for the indemnity requirement.

At the same time, the Senate is also expected to pass next week its version, which is aimed to speed up procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, create an indemnification fund for those who sustain adverse effects from vaccination and allow local government units (LGUs) and the private sector some leeway to purchase the serums.

In a statement, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said the chamber’s swift approval of House Bill 8648 or the proposed Emergency Vaccine Procurement Act on second and third reading by Monday could be expected after President Duterte certified the measure as urgent.

He lauded Duterte for prioritizing the measure that he said would be crucial in the government’s response to the pandemic.

“As soon as we were apprised that the indemnification fund is a requirement of the vaccine manufacturers, we wasted no time in filing House Bill 8648, which would allow emergency procurement of vaccines and provide the required indemnification fund,” Velasco said.

HB 8648 seeks to expedite the rollout of vaccines by allowing LGUs to buy it through a tripartite mechanism with the national government and manufacturers.

It also allows provinces, cities and municipalities to make advance payment not exceeding 50 percent of the contract amount for the procurement of vaccines, providing an exemption from the prohibition of making such payments under the Local Government Code and the Government Auditing Code.

Following the advance payment of the supply of vaccines, the foreign manufacturer, in consideration of its agreement with the concerned LGU, shall undertake to deliver the supply of vaccines within six months from the perfection of the contract.

But the availment of the advance payment mechanism is not an exemption to the post-transaction audit that the Commission on Audit (COA) must conduct on the LGUs.

The bill, authored by Velasco with Majority Leader Martin Romualdez and?Minority Leader Stephen Paduano, also proposes to waive the requirement of Phase 4 trials for COVID-19 medication and vaccine under the Universal Health Care Law to expedite the procurement but limits it only to those registered with the Food and Drug Administration or issued with an emergency use authorization or EUA.

It also provides that the deployment of vaccines to the LGUs must be done in accordance with the national guidelines implemented by the Department of Health and the National Task Force against COVID-19 (NTF).

Aside from this, the bill provides for the creation and administration of indemnification fund for the adverse events following immunization or AEFI.

The House is expected to adopt the P500-million indemnification fund provided in the counterpart measure in the Senate.

Lastly, the bill provides for exemption of procurement, importation, storage, transport, distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines by LGUs from customs duties, value-added tax, excise tax and other fees, provided that the vaccines acquired shall only be used for their residents and constituents, not for commercial distribution.

Velasco gave assurance that the House, under his watch, would continue to act swiftly on necessary measures for the country’s recovery from the pandemic.

“We are prepared to pass the Bayanihan 3 bill, which proposes a P420-billion fund for the implementation of much-needed COVID-19 response and recovery interventions, including a P25-billion budget for COVID-19 treatment and vaccines,” he added.

Sen. Sonny Angara, chairman of the finance committee and principal sponsor of Senate Bill 2057, pointed out that, with Duterte’s certification, both chambers can dispense with the three-day rule and approve it on second and third reading in just one plenary session.

He said the LGUs needed the law to be exempted from the Local Government Code provisions that bar them from making advance purchases or payments. Some of the LGUs, he added, have promised to pay the vaccine manufacturers on Feb. 24.

Angara noted that some local executives are worried that they could be sued for violating the law when they only want to secure vaccines, which are already in very tight supply globally.

Senators started last week plenary deliberations on the bill even as they expressed exasperation over the fact that officials of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and the NTF were rushing Congress to pass the measure when they could have done so weeks or even months ago when they started negotiating for the procurement of vaccines.

NTF chief and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez earlier said the scheduled delivery of the vaccines from COVAX later this month would be delayed due to the lack of an indemnification law that would shield vaccine makers from compensation suits as the serums are still under EUA, or have not fully completed all the usual trials in large populations.

Senators said the need for an indemnification fund – P500 million as proposed in SB 2057 –  could have been raised by IATF and NTF officials when the Senate held an exhaustive hearing on the vaccination program last month. – With Paolo Romero