LGUS, private sector can’t buy vaccines

Vaccine czar carlito Galvez Jr. told the House of Representatives on Thursday that the government is raising its target covid-19 vaccination coverage to 90 percent of the country’s population after the highly contagious Delta variant ramped up herd immunity thresholds for covid. This is higher than the original 70 percent target, which Galvez said would be attained in 2022 at the earliest.

As of September 11, 2021, the Philippines has already administered 38.6 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, according to the DOH. More than 16.7 million Filipinos or about 14 percent of the population have been fully vaccinated, and 28.1 million have received their first jab.

With the Delta variant spreading much faster than the original virus, Covid infection rates have been breaching the 20,000-mark in recent weeks. On Sunday, the country added 21,411 new cases, bringing total infections to 2,227,367. We need to speed up our vaccination rate if we want to bring Covid infections under control.

Despite his pronouncements that government wants to ramp up nationwide inoculations, Galvez is being accused of “sitting” on private sector and local governments’ orders for 10 million vaccine doses. Lawmakers on Thursday hit the National Task Force against Covid-19 for sitting on multi-party agreements (MPA) of local government units and the private sector for the procurement of vaccines. House Committee on Economic Affairs Chairperson Sharon Garin of AAMBIS-OWA and House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez questioned the delays in the signing of MPAS by the vaccine czar and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines.

“I am really concerned, there are pending MPAS with you and you have not signed them. The cities, the provinces have already given them to you. They’re getting no answer from your office,” Rodriguez told Galvez. “These are money of the private entities and of the LGUS. We also have local autonomy. The MPAS should be signed, and help them be able to get good pricing and get the supply,” he added.

Garin said there are LGUS and 300 private sector companies that signed the MPAS through the DOH and the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) to procure Covid-19 vaccines with an estimated 10 million doses for their constituencies as provided for in Republic Act 11525. The lady solon said RA 11525 or the Covid-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021 was enacted to address the adverse impact of Covid-19 through the procurement and administration of safe and effective vaccines by the national government. The law also provides the legal mechanism for LGUS and the private sector to source and procure, through the DOH and the task force, safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines, she said.

“Considering the recent surge of Covid cases attributed to the more transmissible Delta variant and the confirmation of the first local case of the Lambda variant, all efforts to ramp-up vaccination against Covid-19 should be welcomed and acted upon promptly by the concerned government agencies,” Garin said. In fact, part of that alloptions approach that merits consideration is the proposal in some quarters to allow those in the private sector who, this early, are ready to set aside resources and preorder vaccines for possible booster shots for their workers/workers’ families, if only to ensure their protection is sustained..

Garin also questioned the DOH’S budget proposal for next year, particularly the categorization of the P45-billion Covid-19 booster program under unprogrammed funds. Unprogrammed items are only funded if the revenue collection of the government exceeds the target. The DOH said it was the DBM’S decision to place the Covid-19 booster program under the unprogrammed funds pending the approval of the government’s technical panel on the use of Covid-19 booster shots.

Galvez said they could not sign MPAS without a contract and date of delivery from vaccine manufacturers. “One, you cannot sign an MPA without a direct contract and no definite supply because this is included in the payment of terms; that is due diligence. Second, even if we have signed our contract, no supply will come to vaccinate because the supply will come in 2022. There will be no supply because there’s domestic problem in India,” Galvez said.

From all indications, the MPAS will not be signed until God knows when. Unfortunately, the funds are parked—money that could be used for other priority pandemic response programs. In the time of the pandemic, government officials should act with dispatch. The national government can’t win this protracted battle against the virus alone. It needs all the help it can get, and the LGUS and the private sector are willing to help through the MPAS. But they are being held back for mysterious reasons.

Meanwhile, time is quickly passing, Delta is surging, and people are getting sick and dying.