The Philippines will sign a tripartite agreement with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca from the United Kingdom on Friday for the purchase of two million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
“Ang embahada ng UK at ang AstraZeneca ay posible pong maganda ang kanilang layunin na maging equitable ang access ng vaccine at non-profit ang kanilang negotiation (The embassy of UK and AstraZeneca possibly have good objectives to make vaccine access equitable and they have a non-profit negotiation),” Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a briefing on Thursday.
The signing of the deal will result in an “expanded partnership” between the public and private sectors. However, Galvez admitted that the vaccination of at least 60 million Filipinos to achieve herd immunity may take up to three years.
“Kaya natin ng most probably 25 to 30 million a year. Ang ating target ay magkaroon ng herd immunity, ma-vaccinate ang more or less 60 to 75 [million] Filipinos (We can vaccinate most probably 25 to 30 million a year. Our target is to have herd immunity, vaccinate more or less 60 to 75 million Filipinos),” he stated.
Galvez explained that challenges include supply and demand of the world market which could bring about vaccine availability by May to July of 2021 as the “best case scenario.”
“Meaning, wala tayong available vaccine this coming first and second quarter… Most likely ay magkakaroon tayo ng rollout late second quarter up to the end of the year (This means no vaccines will be available this coming first and second quarter… We will most likely have our rollout late second quarter up to the end of the year),” he added.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque assured that the country has enough funds for the inoculation of 60 million Filipinos, citing the ₱73B breakdown presented by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez.
“Bukod pa sa assured na ₱73B ay mayroon pa tayong ₱2.5B yata na galing sa budget. Mayroon pa tayong standby fund na ₱10B. Ito ay gagamitin para sa peripherals (Aside from the ₱73B, we may have ₱2.5B from the budget. We also have a standby fund of ₱10B. This will be used for peripherals),” he disclosed. – PTV News Online, with reports from Mela Lesmoras
