P55B needed for teen jabs, booster shots

THE government would need an additional P55 billion for its Covid-19 vaccination program if it would inoculate teenagers and procure booster shots, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd said on Thursday.

“With the announcement that some countries will inoculate teenagers and the expectation that we eventually will follow suit, we are anticipating an additional expenditure of about P20 billion

to vaccinate the approximately 15 million kids aged 12 to 17,” Dominguez told reporters.

“As we are also anticipating acquiring booster shots for next year for about 85 million teenagers and adults, we will be needing another P55 billion,” he added.

The vaccination program was allotted an initial budget of P82.5 billion. This amount was for the procurement of vaccines to inoculate around 55 percent of the population. Of this amount, P72.5 billion — sourced from multilateral loans and the national budget — is available for disbursement.

To raise the additional funding requirement, Dominguez said the government will most likely need to reallocate funds.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday issued Administrative Order 41, directing all agencies under the executive department to identify savings from their respective appropriations under the 2020 budget.

This is to augment the government’s Covid-19 pandemic response.

The Department of Budget and Management earlier reported that public funds released to government agencies for their various Covid-19 pandemic response programs, activities and projects had reached P646.97 billion.

Of the figure, P387.17 billion was released pursuant to Republic Act (RA) 11469 or the “Bayanihan to Heal As One Act” (Bayanihan 1). Releases under RA 11465 or the “Bayanihan to Recover As One Act” (Bayanihan 2) reached P259.80 billion.

The Budget department said it also released P6.4 billion for various Covid-19 programs and projects. These releases were charged against regular funds under the 2020 General Appropriations Act.