Malacañang said Tuesday the national government was not building any monopoly on the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, after some lawmakers pushed for local governments and private firms to be allowed to deal directly with drug makers.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said “Local governments can buy vaccines, but this is through entering what we call a multilateral agreement for the advanced purchase and this is for the AstraZeneca vaccine.”
Officials meanwhile said some 13 million Filipinos were scheduled to get COVID-19 vaccines from the private sector and local governments, with authorities prepared to launch its inoculation drive against the respiratory disease next month.
The national government has allocated P75 billion to procure vaccines for 57 million people, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said quoting the Department of Finance.
Another 13 million Filipinos “will be covered by various LGUs and private sector vaccination efforts,” he told reporters in an online briefing.
“A total 70 million Filipinos should be able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The planned rollout of our vaccines is good news that impacts not only the health of our people, but the economic well-being of our country as well,” said Nograles.
He said this information came up during a meeting of President Rodrigo Duterte's Cabinet on Monday.
The Philippines has secured vaccine supply deals with China's SinoVAC for 25 million doses, and the Serum Institute of India for 30 million jabs.
Roque told an online briefing the deal involved the national government and the health department, and said local governments would shoulder the cost of the vaccine and planned its distribution.
He added: “It is clear that we do not ban, the national government has no monopoly on the purchase of vaccines.”
Some local governments last year also signed a supply with the national government and AstraZeneca for 2.6 million doses of the UK drug group's coronavirus vaccine.
The Philippines has also secured 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China's Sinovac, and 30 million jabs from the Serum Institute of India, officials said.
With about 489,000 confirmed COVID-19 infections, the Philippines has the second highest number of cases in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia.
Meanwhile, a congressional leader on Tuesday urged the national government to allow local government units to directly procure their COVID-19 vaccine from manufacturers.
Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez filed House Resolution 1460, which followed a similar measure calling for permitting private companies to buy their own vaccine to fight the infectious new coronavirus.
Rodriguez, who represents Cagayan de Oro City’s second district, invoked the constitutional right to health of every Filipinos in making the twin pleas.
He said LGUs throughout the country should be allowed to import vaccines for their constituents because the national government would take care of the vaccination of only 30-50 percent of the country’s population.
He said more than 30 provinces and cities have already allocated funds for buying jabs approved by the Food and Drug Administration, with the cities of Makati, Quezon and Taguig setting aside P1 billion each.
He added that even small provinces like Biliran and Eastern Samar are raring to procure vaccines with allocations of P100 million and P500 million, respectively.
Rodriguez pointed out that these LGUs and scores of private companies intend to give the vaccine free to their constituents and employees.
“The government’s priority right should be having as many Filipinos as possible vaccinated in order to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic, get the economy on the road to recovery and return the nation to pre-2020 normality,” he stressed.
He said allowing LGUs and private companies to buy their own vaccine will greatly help the national government in achieving its goal of herd immunity, which calls for inoculating at least 80 percent of the population.
Rodriguez has also filed a bill to exempt vaccine importation from duties, taxes and other fees.
Though the FDA has yet to give its go-signal to the use of any vaccine, many LGUs have already negotiated with vaccine producers for their supply.
In a related development, the Department of Health, the National Task Force Against COVID-19, and the Food and Drug Administration said they appreciate the COVID-19 vaccine initiatives of the Local Government Units.
“However, as mentioned by the Vaccine Czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, LGUs cannot procure and roll out COVID-19 vaccines on their own. This must be coordinated with the national government, through the NTF and the DOH in a tripartite agreement involving local governments and pharmaceutical companies. This is meant to align the efforts of LGUs with the vaccine initiative of the National Government which integrates and consolidates all resources and initiatives,” said the DOH in a statement Tuesday.
“The FDA also clarifies that the EUA issued by the Philippine FDA does not cover the commercial use of the vaccines. This means that manufacturers cannot sell directly to the LGUs nor to any entity, unless they are under the vaccine initiative of the National Government,” the DOH said.
“Further, the DOH recognizes the equity issues raised on the distribution of the vaccine. We assure the public that the National Government adheres to the principle of equity where delivery of services are biased towards the vulnerable and the disadvantaged,” the DOH said.
