PH allots P1.5B to join vaccine access alliance

THE national government has allocated P1.5 billion for the country’s participation in the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) facility, the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) said on Tuesday.

At a briefing in Malacañang, DoST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña said countries that intend to join the alliance have to commit a certain amount for the purchase of vaccines.

According to de la Peña, the Covax facility requires vaccine orders of at least 3 percent of the population or 3 million for the Philippines.

At an estimated cost of P500 per

vaccine, he said, this translates to around P1.5 billion.

“In an IATF[- EID] meeting before, the Department of Budget and Management ( DBM) approved the subscription for 3 million,” de la Peña added, referring to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases

Earlier, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the IATF-EID had approved the country’s participation in the Covax facility.

He added this was in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s commitment to look for ways to have access to the vaccines still being developed by various countries to fight the coronavirus.

According to the World Health Organization ( WHO), the Covax facility is a mechanism designed to accelerate the development and manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccines, and guarantee rapid, fair and equitable access to the vaccines worldwide.

Over 150 countries have joined the facility, which aims to deliver 2 billion doses of safe and effective vaccines that would have passed regulatory approval by the end of 2021.

“These vaccines will be delivered equally to all participating countries, proportional to their populations, initially prioritizing health care workers, then expanding to cover 20 percent of the population of the participating countries,” the WHO had said.

Meanwhile, de la Peña said the trial for virgin coconut oil as a supportive treatment for Covid-19 showed promising results.

But the DoST chief was quick to add that it was too early to conclude that it would work against the virus as they only have 30 patients so far for the trial.

He said they aimed to have 90 patients to register for the trial, which is currently conducted at the Sta. Rosa Community Hospital.