On behalf of the Vaccine Cluster, I would like to set the record straight regarding false information being circulated in social media and mainstream media regarding the implementation of the national immunization program.
First, let me address the perceived slow implementation of the vaccines. To put things into proper perspective, the initial vaccine roll-out is still limited to our medical frontliners and health care workers and not yet for the general public.
The inoculation of medical workers must be carried out in a deliberate manner. Considering the crucial task they perform, their vaccination must be done in batches in light of possible adverse effects and the impact on the manning requirements of health facilities.
When all our medical frontliners and health care workers are inoculated and our country already has sufficient vaccine supplies, we shall significantly pick up the pace of our vaccination program.
To date, almost 90% of the vaccines we have on hand have already been deployed within the past two weeks. They have already been dispatched to far-flung areas such as Batanes in northern Luzon, and to the southernmost island province of Tawi-tawi in Mindanao.
With these positive developments, the Duterte Administration is confident that it is on track in implementing its immunization program and optimistic that it would be able to achieve its target of inoculating about 70 percent of the country’s population within this year.
As much as we would like to conduct a full-scale vaccination program, we are however constrained by the current limited supply of vaccines in the world market. And this is the same problem being faced by most nations around the world.
The current production capacity of vaccine manufacturers simply has not been able to keep up with global demand. Moreover, most of the anti-COVID vaccines produced have already been pre-ordered already by rich countries.
This is a reality that governments across the globe must collectively confront and decisively address the soonest.
We are, however, confident that when the bulk of the vaccine supplies start arriving by the second quarter of this year, the government would be able to significantly scale up the implementation of our vaccine program and enable the country to achieve herd immunity.
Second, I would like to respond to the allegation that the country has borrowed over P10 trillion pesos to support its vaccination program.
According to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, “The government is working on an overall budget of P82.5 billion for the national vaccination program, of which P62 billion in financing is sourced from our development partners and the rest is financed internally. We have secured enough funding from abroad right now as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank approved just this week separate loans to cover the entire P62-billion component that we plan to secure overseas.”
All copies of the loan and grant agreements signed by the Department of Finance are uploaded in the agency’s website and can be viewed by anyone who wishes to check their veracity.
As Secretary Dominguez has pointed out “having the funds is not a guarantee that we will be able to get all the doses we need when we want them–which is now.”
But rest assured that the Duterte administration has been relentless in acquiring these vaccines to ensure that the country will have a fair share of the doses.
Recently, we flew to India to directly deal with the Serum Institute of India to guarantee both short and long term vaccine supplies for our country. Another team is expected to fly to Russia to further conduct a study on the vaccine produced by Gamaleya.
Third, on the reopening of the country’s economy. The President is well aware of the need to fully reopen our economy, while implementing aggressive measures to contain the spread of the virus and mitigate its impact.
The government is doing its best to ensure that the country handle a possible spike in COVID-19 cases due to its improved testing, contact tracing, treatment and isolation capacity.
And as we ramp up the implementation of our vaccine program starting with our health workers, inoculating 1 million Filipinos is only the beginning of our aggressive and sustained campaign to achieve herd immunity and finally put an end to the pandemic.
President Duterte understands that as we provide our countrymen with an added layer of protection against the virus, it must also take the necessary steps to bring back consumer and investment confidence and put the nation’s economy back on track to its pre-pandemic level.
