Senate passes vaccine indemnity fund bill
The Senate passed yesterday Senate Bill 2057 that expedites procurement of COVID-19 vaccines and allocates a P500-million National Vaccine Indemnity Fund for those who may be adversely affected by the vaccination.
Certified urgent by President Duterte, the measure contains a provision freeing vaccine makers from liabilities that may arise, as the serums are only dispensed under emergency use authorization (EUA) issued by governments. A special task group composed of medical and vaccine experts will monitor the vaccination program.
The bill also mandates the issuance of vaccination cards by the Department of Health (DOH), LGUs and private entities to those who have been inoculated.
With the passage of the bill, senators said the Executive branch would not have any more excuse for the delay of the arrival of the vaccines, which should have started last week through the COVAX facility of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“We are probably the first country in the world to legislate vaccine procurement and implementation without a single vaccine yet,” Senate
Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said shortly after the voting.
“Just to show you Mr. (Senate) President (Vicente Sotto III) and the Filipino people that we are not remiss in our job as legislators. We’ve done our part, the ball is now in the court of the Executive,” he said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto described the bill as “a cocktail of cures for the national vaccine lack caused by executive lethargy.”
“It is an adrenaline shot that will boost procurement. It is the inoculation against suits that suppliers are demanding. It orders a vaccination mark, so to speak, for those who will get jabbed – so that properly identified, they can move around freely,” Recto said.
“This is a good plan. And I can only pray, for the sake of this vaccine-starved land, that it will not be squandered by poor generalship,” he said.
Sen. Joel Villanueva said that the law would only be good if they implemented quickly and properly.
“The proof of the pudding is in the eating, (when it comes to vaccines), the proof is in the injecting,” Villanueva said.
“The indemnity fund will cover the indemnification agreements with the vaccine manufacturers, which the NTF (National Task Force) has started fulfilling. This removes one major stumbling block to the delivery of the vaccines to the country,” Sen. Sonny Angara, principal sponsor of the measure, said.
House adopts Senate version
The House of Representatives opted to “adopt” the Senate’s version of the indemnity fund bill, adopting Senate Bill 2057 into House Bill 8648 to avoid going through the bicameral conference committee where senators and congressmen will iron out kinks in the provisions.
The bill is expected to be signed soon by President Duterte and will become law as soon as it is published in the government’s Official Gazette, or in newspapers of general circulation in the country.
With 225 votes with six abstentions, the House voted on Monday to approve on third and final reading HB 8648 which establishes the P500million indemnity fund.
Persons who may suffer adverse effects of the vaccine have five years to make their claims. The indemnification will be implemented by staterun Philippine Health Insurance Corp.