‘Gov’t should not rely on vaccine donations’

A quick vaccine rollout “is the best way to cover lost economic ground,” Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, the House tax panel chief, said on Tuesday and urged the government not to rely on donations alone for the COVID-19 vaccines.

“Moving forward, our vaccination program must become more ambitious … Let’s bid for the vaccines because we have the money,” Salceda said, as he welcomed vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.’s pronouncement that the Philippines was willing to pay more to get vaccines earlier.

“As more people are able to go out and the velocity of money recovers, we can then effectively pump-prime the economy with more government spending. That’s how we can create jobs sustainably,” he said.

“We must also resume public transport operations. Without reliable public and mass transport, there will be no manufacturing or industrial growth,” Salceda said.

The Philippines will surely get 30 million doses of Covovax as the government is expected to sign the supply agreement on March 10, Malacañang announced.

This follows the signing of a supply agreement for 13 million doses of Moderna and the purchase order for 1 million doses of CoronaVac, according to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.

Roque said he could not provide the price of Covovax until the agreement has become final.

Covovax is made by Novavax, an American company, and manufactured in India.

More doses arriving

Galvez, who is in charge of vaccine procurement, was scheduled to fly to India on Tuesday to secure the Philippines’ supply of Covovax.

As for the 1 million CoronVac doses that the country has ordered, Roque said these cost P700 million.

Galvez earlier said these doses were expected to arrive in the country later this month.

These would be on top of the 600,000 CoronaVac doses that China donated to the country. China has also pledged to donate another 400,000 doses.

The Philippines plans to procure a total of 25 million doses of CoronaVac.

The national government, in cooperation with local governments and the private sector, has also secured 17 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines of the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

Roque said AstraZeneca cost $5 each.

Galvez said on Monday that the country could expect delivery of 20 million vaccines in the second quarter of the year.

He said more CoronaVac doses were expected in the second quarter, along with the vaccines from the global procurement pool COVAX and Novavax.

The private sector’s order of 2.6 million AstraZeneca may also arrive in May or June, he said.

The Russian-made Sputnik V may soon get emergency use authorization, according to Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.