Vaccine funding to be increased in 2021 budget

Congress will increase funding for the purchase of COVID- 19 vaccines in the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021, Sen. Bong Go said yesterday.

Go, who chairs the committee on health, said the bicameral conference committee fine-tuning the 2021 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) will finalize this week an additional amount for vaccine purchase, from the originally appropriated P8 billion.

The Senate has allocated an additional P54 billion for vaccines under unprogrammed appropriations or funding that will be released only when there are extra revenues.

Some P21 billion has also been set aside for storage, transportation and distribution of vaccines under unprogrammed funds.

He also said now that President Duterte has signed Executive Order 121, which allows the director- general of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for COVID- 19 drugs and vaccines, there should be better access to safe and effective vaccine for all Filipinos.

With the EUA, the process of approving the use of COVID-19 vaccines from abroad will be expedited.

Go said it does not matter where the vaccine will come from as long as it is safe and effective. He added the government will tap any company that can provide the volume of vaccines the country needs as long as they meet stringent requirements.

Meanwhile, Sen. Imee Marcos said the country can buy AstraZeneca’s vaccine at only $2.50 per dose, or half the price announced by government negotiators.

The Swedish pharmaceutical firm and Oxford University have already decided to sell their vaccine at cost and for as long as needed by less developed countries, Marcos said.

She issued the statement after the government, local corporate donors and AstraZeneca signed a purchase agreement to acquire 2.6 million doses of the vaccine for about P600 million, or about $5 per dose.

She said subsequent purchases of the same vaccine should cost less because the Philippines is also among the 92 low and lower-middle income countries that will benefit from international donor-funded vaccines under the global initiative known as the COVAX Advance Market Commitment facility.

The COVAX AMC aims to keep vaccine prices at not more than $3 per dose, through the efforts of the World Health Organization, the Gavi Vaccine Alliance and vaccine-manufacturing countries, so that poorer nations can gain affordable and fair access to COVID-19 vaccines.

“With a budget of P600 million, the government should be able to buy not just 2.6 million doses but at least five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. At $5, every Filipino vaccinated should be able to complete the two prescribed doses, not just half,” Marcos said.