Ballgame for COVID-19 shots continues despite delay, vaccine czar asserts
MANILA, Philippines — The ballgame for the Philippines’ quest for coronavirus shots continues, as the country’s vaccine czar maintained that the government is still on track on its vaccine roadmap despite some delays in negotiations with suppliers.
Carlito Galvez Jr., who also stands as chief implementer of the country’s COVID-19 policy, issued this statement amid allegations that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III “dropped the ball” in negotiations with US drugmaker Pfizer by failing to sign a single document, which supposedly caused the country to lose 10 million doses of its vaccine.
“No ‘bus’ was missed or no ‘ball’ was dropped because we are focused on our main goal, and that is, to secure an equitable share of the vaccines,” Galvez said in a statement.
This, even as he admitted “some delays” in the government’s negotiations with vaccine manufacturers, which they were able to make up for.
He said, without providing specifics, that the country is in advanced stages of negotiations with several vaccine developers and that the government eyes to strike a deal with them by the end of the year or early January 2021.
“We are confident that given the timeline of production, initial deliveries will be made by March of next year and the inoculation program may commence within that period,” Galvez said.
But he also gave a rather gloomy outlook for the country as he admits that it is “struggling to get a fair share of the vaccines in the global market” as 80% of inoculations had already been bought by countries where the shots were manufactured and those experiencing a second wave of infections.
Galvez also assured that the country will be able to get the vaccines at a lower price compared to commercial prices.
No time for finger-pointing
Galvez also hit at those shooting “unfounded accusations” and creating “unnecessary noise,” saying that these may derail the government from pursuing its goal of securing safe and effective vaccines.
He added that now is not the time for finger-pointing, saying that these discussions are “unproductive and will only distract” from the goal of getting coronavirus vaccines.
Duque has also denied that the government has lost possession of the ball, underscoring that talks are still in progress with several vaccine manufacturers. He also denied that Pfizer has assured the country of 10 million doses of its vaccine developed with German firm BioNTech.
But Locsin is insisting otherwise, with him going on Twitter on Saturday to say that he asked US State Secretary Mike Pompeo to help Manila’s ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez to secure “even a fraction” of Pfizer’s 10 million vaccine doses.
Coronavirus vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said that Pfizer’s vaccine may arrive in the country by the third quarter of 2021 at the earliest. Wealthy countries have already ordered and paid for doses of Pfizer’s goods.
US biotech companies Moderna Therapeutics and Arcturus Therapeutics expressed willingness to supply the Philippines up to 25 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccines starting the third quarter of 2021 should the government find their proposals acceptable, Romualdez said.
The government is aiming to inoculate 24 million Filipinos by early next year. But so far, the country has only been able to secure 2.6 million doses of coronavirus vaccine developed by British-Swedish firm Astrazeneca through the funding of the private sector. — Xave Gregorio
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