Private sector jabs arriving next month

MANILA, Philippines — COVID-19 vaccines ordered by the private sector are expected to arrive next month, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said yesterday.

These include shipments of Moderna and AstraZeneca jabs, as well as 500,000 Sinovac shots purchased by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) for economic frontliners.

“I think they will arrive by mid-June,” Dominguez said, adding that the government would ensure the vaccines would pass through Customs clearance smoothly.

“Goods will pass through unhampered in order to ensure temperature stability,” he added.

Through a tripartite agreement with the government and vaccine manufacturers, the private sector was able to purchase COVID-19 vaccines given emergency use authorization or EUA by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Government participation in private sector vaccine transactions is necessary because vaccine manufacturers require national governments to guarantee indemnification before finalizing any procurement deal. The national government will also shoulder the cost of any adverse effects of the shots through the P500-million COVID-19 National Vaccine Indemnity Fund.

Due to limited supply, vaccines cannot be sold commercially and must be distributed in accordance with the prioritization framework set by the government.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said 200 sea assets of the police Maritime Group and seven helicopters of the elite Special Action Force (SAF) have been mobilized to ensure speedy and safe delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in the provinces.

“We are ready to provide assistance so that COVID-19 vaccines will be delivered immediately to provinces and municipalities outside Metro Manila,” he said, in response to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año’s directive to secure and assist the deliveries.

Studies

Meanwhile, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) approved the conduct of two research and development projects that will analyze the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and their effect on people receiving a mix of different jabs.

Science Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara said the studies will be done by the Philippine Society for Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (PSAAI) and the University of the Philippines-Manila.

The PSAAI, which will study the mix-match of various COVID-19 vaccines, was allocated P133 million as provisional funding, while UP-Manila was given P92 million for their immune-surveillance study. Both funds have yet to be finalized, Guevara said.

Sen. Sonny Angara urged the FDA to start studying the use of COVID-19 vaccines for children below 18, noting that there are about 28 million children in basic education and 3.4 million in tertiary.

“Green lighting certain vaccines for school-age children will address the need of the largest population group to be protected from the coronavirus. Outsmarting the virus requires the vaccination of students. There will be no return to normalcy, no herd immunity if they are not vaccinated,” Angara added.

The measure was also backed by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, saying that “Now that we see the possibility of our youth being vaccinated against COVID-19, we must also start preparing our local governments to properly and quickly distribute the vaccines to the youth.”

Meanwhile, budget carrier Cebu Pacific transported another batch of 500,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from Beijing to Manila. The vaccines, loaded in temperature-controlled containers, arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Thursday morning. — Emmanuel Tupas, Rainier Allan Ronda, Cecille Suerte Felipe,Richmond Mercurio