We never learn

Leaders of 23 states discussed last month the possibility of developing an international treaty for “pandemic preparedness and response.” Rooted from the need for an equitable vaccine supply to cover the global population, this multilateral discussion was fueled by the observed excessive procurement of rich nations of vaccines against the deadly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in particular.

Thus, poor nations were left at the mercy of donations coming from the COVAX Facility of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Immediately after the COVAX Facility was launched last year, a very hands-on Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. turned over $100,000 as the Philippine contribution to this WHO-assisted anti-COVID vaccine program for poor and lesser income countries.

While he regretfully tried to downplay the COVID-19 contagion early on last year, President Rodrigo Duterte still has the fortune of having competent Cabinet officials like Locsin who took this initiative. Sensing perhaps the Chief Executive’s concern for the likelihood of a mad scramble for Western branded vaccine supply from Pfizer and Moderna, the DFA Secretary went out publicly in his @teddyboylocsin Twitter post that “somebody dropped the ball.”

True enough. Our Philippine ambassador to the US, Jose “Babes” Romualdez admitted the country lost the opportunity to obtain Pfizer doses. Without naming names, our diplomat in Washington merely confessed the failure of his home government to sort out the required paperwork necessary to seal the agreement. But Locsin was more forthright to pin much the fiasco to the negligence of Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III.

Taking off from the cue of Locsin and Romualdez, Senator Panfilo Lacson shared his own frustration and revealed it was Duque’s failure to act quickly on the signing of the Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA) that botched the Pfizer deal. Duque is the co-chairman of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID).

Designated “vaccine czar” Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., however, explained the CDA got derailed due to the proverbial the devil is in the details. These included matters principally of government guarantee to vaccine-makers like Pfizer to be covered against immunity from legal suits for any serious adverse events and indemnification clause for vaccinees.

This is to take into account all existing anti-COVID vaccines are yet on third clinical trials.

All current anti-COVID vaccines are merely granted emergency use authorization (EUA) either by the WHO or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of each country buyer or recipient of their vaccine product.

Galvez, who is also concurrently the chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) on anti-COVID responses of the government, asserted the need to exercise due diligence, especially involving the safety and welfare of the people to be inoculated. This led the 18th Congress to pass into law Republic Act (RA 11525), or the Vaccination Program Act of 2021.

During the “talk to the people” of President Duterte last Monday night, Galvez updated the IATF on the anticipated arrival of vaccine deliveries in the coming months. Galvez could only hope for a stable supply around June to August this year. His optimistic outlook projected the Philippines can finally receive around 10-15 million doses by that period.

Anchored in this consideration was the President’s preference for China-produced vaccines such as Coronavac of Sinovac and Sinopharm. Available vaccine doses administered by the government though is still limited to China’s one million donation of Coronavac and another one million purchased from Sinovac. Half a million doses of COVAX-donated AstraZeneca were already used up.

The FDA finally granted EUA one after the other for the vaccine brands Janssen and Covaxin. Per FDA Director-General Eric Domingo, delayed EUA approval was caused by the former’s incomplete interim phase III results involving Filipino participants while the latter was due to its late submission of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification.

Janssen is currently faced with blood clotting issues in a very small number of vaccinees in the US – a controversy shared with AstraZeneca. Covaxin, on the other hand, deserves some limelight and careful evaluation.

As early as March this year, Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship Jose “Joey” Concepcion has been spearheading the initiative to bring Covaxin to the Philippines by linking stakeholders both from the India and Philippine ends. Through the Go Negosyo platform, Concepcion earlier linked the Philippine private sector and local government units to AstraZeneca supply due for delivery by July. Also under RA 11525, private sector businesses are now allowed to procure their vaccines under the framework of signing a Tripartite Agreement with the national government.

A month ago, Concepcion asserted that the Philippine private sector may receive one million doses of Covaxin by April. At least 8 million doses of Covaxin is being worked for the Philippines. With an efficacy rate of 81% based on the interim results of its phase three clinical trials, Covaxin uses traditional inactivated virus like Coronavac. Galvez cited this the tried-and tested technique in vaccination production that can provide a relative degree of safety and predictability.

Recent reports on resurgence of COVID-related deaths in India is a cause of concern because they may restrict export of the vaccines. Given the speed, how the private sector can facilitate procurement and assist the clearance of bureaucratic obstacles present challenges again.

The still pending arrival of Covaxin and other anti-COVID vaccines to the Philippines suggests another brewing situation on the lack of concerted actions by our government agencies. When will the Philippines learn from its mistakes?