Philippines working to secure COVID-19 vaccine

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government is working double time to secure the country’s first vaccines for COVID-19, National Task Force chief implementer and presidential adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. said yesterday.

Galvez said the government has been discussing with counterparts the plans to procure vaccines once these are available in the market.

He said the procurement is part of the government’s efforts under National Action Plan Phase 2, which is focused on prevention, detection, tracing and testing as well as efficient isolation.

President Duterte has been active in seeking commitments from various allies to allow the country’s access to the vaccines.

The Philippines recently joined the GAVI COVID-19 Vaccine Facility, an alliance of countries prioritizing the development of vaccines and strengthening global access for the vaccine.

“So, the vaccine may come later this year and we are ready to get it because of the President’s diplomatic efforts. We are also working through our embassies. Our country teams are talking (with other countries) so we are able to have first access once the vaccines are available,” Galvez said.

“Our President has given us instructions to have the vaccines available for at least 60 million of our population,” he added.

The Department of Health, Department of Science and Technology as well as the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Technical Working Group are working together for the country’s participation in convalescent testing.

Galvez said the government is working to make sure that the supply chain for drugs used in treating diseases related to SARS-CoV-2 remains open.

He was referring to anti-viral drugs Remdesivir, Avigan and Dexamethasone.

At a press briefing, Galvez also countered the criticisms that the government has left out anew the welfare of frontliners in the invigorated response against the pandemic.

“We have plans for COVID-19, particularly the frontliners. We really find that it is imperative really to protect and reconstitute our frontliners,” he said.

According to Galvez, the IATF has been following concrete plans, citing Phase 1 implemented from March up to June, while Phase 2 is now being implemented, covering July until September. Phase 3 will be in October to December, “until we have the vaccine,” he said.

To enable the government to distribute cheaper testing kits, Galvez revealed that the task force has opted to procure supplies through government-to-government processes.

This is the government’s strategy to buy cheaper testing kits and personal protective equipment.

Based on experience, Galvez assured the public that the concerned government agencies were very prudent in spending the people’s money.

As this developed, Malacañang welcomed yesterday China’s assurance that it will give the Philippines first consideration for access to COVID-19 vaccine.

“We thank the government of China for publicly stating their position that as our close friend, the Philippines will benefit from the vaccine they are developing,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said yesterday.

During his recent fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA), Duterte revealed that he has opened anew communication lines with Chinese President Xi Jinping to allow first access for the Philippines once it has developed a vaccine. – Rainier Allan Ronda