Gov't adviser calls on drug makers to register to allow sale in pharmacies
MANILA, Philippines — A presidential adviser urged Monday for coronavirus vaccine manufacturers to apply for a certificate of product registration, saying the presence of vaccines in drug stores would allow the government to lift the state of public health emergency that has been up since 2020.
Over the Laging Handa briefing, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said that a CPR for a vaccine brand means the public can purchase jabs at pharmacies, thus easing the financial burden on the national government which is still subsidizing vaccine costs.
"What we want to do is that eventually if the public will buy their own vaccines, manufacturers will have to apply for a CPR so this is a certificate of product registration," he said in mixed Filipino and English.
"We can see that our debt is going up...so eventually, overtime, part of this responsibility will be shared with us in the private sector and the public, who can afford to pay the vaccines."
This comes after the Philippines jumped ahead by 40 spots in the Nikkei COVID-19 Recovery Index decreasing infections and the easing of restrictions after initially ranking in the bottom.
“Daily cases dropped to below 200 in the past week, with no confirmed deaths reported. The decline of infections helped the country move up 40 spots in the ranking, to 33rd,” Nikkei said of the Philippines’ moving up on the list.
The government in 2020 rejected the global index, saying there was "a need to contextualize it." But as the country began surging forward in its pandemic recovery, authorities are pointing to it as proof that "our intervention and policies are working."
Concepcion made this argument Monday afternoon as he reiterated anew his stance that the government should look into suspending the state of public health emergency that has been in place since March 8, 2020.
"We have to start already planning on how we can transition and eventually move from this state of public health emergency," Concepcion said, pointing to the "low-risk" Alert Level 1 hoisted in most parts of the country. "We've always said we need to study how to remove this state."
"The country is in a good place in terms of health...my opinion is that we should start to discuss. The concern is that if we remove it, getting a budget for vaccines and medicines will be [removed.] But there are ways past that."
— Franco Luna with a report from Xave Gregorio
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