Top House leaders seek authority for LGUs to buy COVID-19 vaccines on their own
MANILA, Philippines — Top leaders of the House of Representatives have filed a bill which seeks to authorize local governments to purchase coronavirus vaccines on their own without having to go through public bidding.
Currently, local governments have to strike a tripartite agreement with the national government and vaccine manufacturers to secure doses of the globally coveted shots.
But under the House Bill No. 8648 filed by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco (Marinduque), Majority Leader Ferdinand Romualdez (Leyte) and Minority Leader Joseph Stephen Paduano (Abang Lingkod party-list), local governments may directly purchase COVID-19 vaccines from manufacturers.
Velasco said this is to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are “procured and administered in an expeditious, effective, efficient and equitable manner.”
“Time is of the essence. Each day of delay is very costly for the government, and leaves many of our vulnerable countrymen exposed to the dangers of this disease,” he said.
The bill also provides for another exemption to regular procurement rules by allowing advanced payments of up to 50% to COVID-19 drug and vaccine manufacturers if they require it. The president may change the amount allowed for advanced payments.
Foreign manufacturers that demanded advanced payments are required under the bill to deliver the vaccines within six months from the perfection of the contract.
The measure also exempts COVID-19 drugs and vaccines from the requirement that they pass Phase IV trials before the government can procure them.
Under the bill, local governments can only buy COVID-19 vaccines which are registered with the Food and Drug Administration or have been issued an emergency use authorization.
Vaccines which would be bought by local governments would also be exempt from customs duties, value-added tax, excise tax and other fees related to their procurement, importation, storage, transport, distribution and administration.
The bill also seeks to create an indemnification fund which would be used to pay individuals who would experience adverse effects due to the vaccine.
Should the measure be enacted, it will only remain in effect during the state of calamity and public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri has filed a similar bill in the upper chamber.
Local governments will be at the forefront of the government’s vaccination drive against COVID-19, with the national government putting the burden of the implementation of the planned inoculation campaign.
However, the national government has insisted that local governments would have to deal with them and drugmakers so they can purchase doses of COVID-19 vaccines, saying that this is to “align efforts” on vaccination.
The national government has so far secured two official deals for COVID-19 vaccine supplies in the Philippines, one with Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac and another with the Serum Institute of India.
Watch this space for bite-sized developments on the vaccines in the Philippines. (Main image by Markus Spiske via Unsplash)
Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire says the general population may now get their second booster jab.
"We're just waiting for the release of implementing guidelines, then we'll start rolling out our second booster for the general population," she says. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
Amid questions on vaccines being administered, the Department of Health assures the public all doses are safe and effective as the “process of extending shelf life goes through thorough stability studies.”
“The government ensures that every vaccine that is injected with an extended shelf life has gone through studies, and is still safe and effective against COVID-19,” it adds.
Government must increase vaccination capacity across the Philippines in anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the corona virus, Sen. Risa Hontiveros says.
She says local government units and the private sector can work together to put up more vaccination centers and deploy more vaccination teams to get more people inoculated against COVID-19.
"The active COVID cases have nearly doubled in three days. The positivity rate is almost four times the ceiling set by the World Health Organization. Huwag na nating hintayin na sobrang lumala pa ang sitwasyon bago tayo gumawa ng paraan para mapabilis ang ating pagbabakuna."
FDA chief Eric Domingo says that its agency has given emergency approval for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
The United States immunized around 900,000 children aged five-to-11 against Covid in the first week the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for them, a White House official says Wednesday.
Roughly 700,000 more have made appointments at pharmacies, White House Covid coordinator Jeff Zients tells reporters.
"The program is just getting up to full strength," he says, adding most of the shots were given in the last couple of days alone. — AFP
- Latest
- Trending
