(Photo from Glen Ramos, DOH Region IV-A)
Malacañang on Monday said the Philippines’ vaccination roadmap approved by President Rodrigo Duterte would prioritize poor Filipinos and healthcare workers.
“Unang-una, mauuna po iyong mga mahihirap at indigents. Ito po iyong nasa listahan natin ng 4Ps,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in a virtual briefing.
“Pangalawa, ang frontliners, ang health care workers, ang mga sundalo, kapulisan at iyong mga essential services,” he continued.
After people under the above-mentioned categories, the vaccination program will be expanded to cover all Filipinos, Roque said.
“Pangatlo, lahat ng Pilipino ay makakatanggap ng bakuna without exception,” he said.
Roque said that aside from government-to-government deals for Covid-19 vaccines, the Duterte administration was also looking into bilateral deals with vaccine companies, and tripartite agreements.
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) could also enter into a pooled purchase agreement.
“Iyong multilateral natin, pupuwede nga iyong Asean pooled, iyong lahat tayong miyembro ng Asean ay bibili tayo bilang isang mamimili o ‘di naman kaya ay sasapi tayo doon sa mga pooled purchases na inaayos ng ADB, ng World Bank, ng World Health Organization, UNICEF at iba pa,” Roque explained.
Roque said the country’s Covid-19 vaccine roadmap would tackle vaccine selection; access and acquisition; procurement through bilateral, multilateral and other financial modes; shipment and storage; distribution and deployment; nationwide vaccination; and evaluation and monitoring.
The roadmap should be completed by December, he added.
In a separate briefing, National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said that among pharmaceutical companies developing Covid-19 vaccines, British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca had presented the cheapest option.
“Sa company profile nila, sinabi roon na they are for giving access to poor countries, not for profit. Sila iyong pinakamura na offer na $5 [~P240] per dose,” Galvez said.
Galvez, the country’s vaccine czar, said he expects to procure three to 10 million doses of Astrazeneca’s vaccine.
“Ang best case po natin, Mayo o Hulyo [2021] ay may available na vaccine na po [tayo] thru Covax and bilateral arrangement natin,” Galvez said.
“But realistically speaking, baka po end of [2021] or 2022 darating ang main bulk ng vaccine…iyan po ang nakikita natin kasi meron po tayong kakulangan sa supply kasi iyong mayayamang countries, kinuha na po ang majority ng production,” Galvez added.
Galvez earlier said that some countries had sought to procure vaccines twice as many as their total population.
The country has 398,449 Covid-19 cases as of Nov. 9. John Ezekiel J. Hirro