Expiring vaccines blamed on HTAC, DoH

We donated AstraZeneca vaccines to the government,” he said. The expiring vaccines were acquired by the private sector through the tripartite agreement A Dose of Hope, which was formed in October 2020

Former presidential adviser on entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo chairperson Joey Concepcion slammed the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) and its mother agency, the Department of Health, for allowing a large bulk of vaccines to expire at the end of this month.

“We have to learn from this. I think what really contributed was the lack of clear rules on the vaccines: Who are allowed to take the vaccines, and the ability of some bodies to move swiftly with science and the reality on the ground,” Concepcion said.

Earlier, Concepcion revealed that more than 1.5 million pieces, or P1.3 billion worth of AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines, are about to reach their expiration date.

“The lack of urgency with some bodies is still affecting the whole vaccine rollout. This shouldn’t be the case as we move forward,” he said.

Concepcion has been appealing to HTAC for second boosters to be allowed for members of the workforce who are as young as 50 years old.

“As our experts at ACE (Advisory Council of Experts) suggested, the pandemic response should not be business-as-usual. We should consider the impact on the whole of society, the weight of the evidence coming from countries who have the studies and the data, the variants, and the challenges of the rollout on the ground,” he said.

The Go Negosyo chairperson added that factors like the return of in-person classes and the vulnerability of the workforce should also be considered in vaccine deployment. Government units, he said “have to be attuned and should be part of the solutions moving forward.”

Concepcion maintained that many countries around the world have already found that persons younger than 60 can benefit from second boosters and suggested that the country follow the lead of those who have studied the merits of second boosters.

Second booster vaccinations using mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines were allowed in the Philippines only in mid-May, two months after the United States Center for Disease Control updated its own guidelines to include even those as young as 50 years old.

Costing private sector

Also, he reiterated that the Covid-19 vaccines that are expiring by end-July will cost the private sector more than P1.3 billion, stating that these are the losses incurred only by the private sector and do not yet reflect the vaccines it donated to the government.

“We donated AstraZeneca vaccines to the government,” he said. The expiring vaccines were acquired by the private sector through the tripartite agreement A Dose of Hope, which was formed in October 2020.

Under the tripartite agreement, half of the vaccines acquired are shared with the government, which at that time was hindered by regulatory roadblocks that prevented the purchase of a treatment that was still awaiting FDA approval.

Each AstraZeneca jab is estimated to cost at least US$5 each, while Moderna shots were bought for $26.83 for each dose. As of 21 July, the total expiring vaccines in private sector warehouses are broken down as follows: AstraZeneca (623,680) and Moderna (864,700).