Two US pharmaceutical companies—Moderna and Arcturus—are ready to supply 4 million to 25 million of their vaccines to the Philippines, Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said Friday.
Romualdez said the vaccines will be available for shipping starting the third quarter of next year, should the Philippine government agree to their proposals.
“We are hoping our government will consider the promising candidates of Moderna and Arcturus for inclusion in our country’s pool of anti-COVID vaccines,” Romualdez said in a statement.
Romualdez noted that a US panel of experts has voted to recommend emergency approval of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines, paving the way for 6 million doses to start shipping as early as this weekend.
The US Food and Drug Administration is now expected to grant an emergency use authorization (EUA), which would make Moderna’s vaccine the second to be approved in the US.
This development came amid allegations that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III botched the process of securing at least 10 million Pfizer vaccines by January 2021 by delaying the submission of a mandatory confidentiality agreement with the US firm.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. earlier said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo helped facilitate the supposed delivery of the vaccines to the Philippines by early 2021.
Without naming Duque, Locsin tweeted that someone “dropped the ball” on the Pfizer vaccine delivery. Senator Panfilo Lacson later on exposed Duque as the one who made the mistake, causing the Philippines to miss the opportunity to secure the vaccine early.
“They could have secured the delivery of 10 million Pfizer vaccines as early as January next year, way ahead of Singapore but for the indifference of Secretary Duque who failed to work on the necessary documentary requirement, namely, the confidentiality disclosure agreement as he should have done,” Lacson said.
Duque denied the allegation.
Malacanang said President Roddrigo Duterte sees no major lapse on the part of the Health Secretary.
Some countries such as the United Kingdom, the US and Singapore have already approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for local use.
The Duterte administration, which cultivated warmer ties with China amid territorial disputes in the South China Sea, seeks to finalize negotiations with Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech to acquire 25 million doses of its vaccine by March 2021.
Philippine officials said the China-made vaccines are the country’s first choice while waiting for commitments from other pharmaceutical companies.
But a minority leader in the House of Representatives urged the administration to fully disclose how the Sinovac vaccine was chosen over other vaccines for COVID-19.
Assistant Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro asked what were the deals between other companies, who negotiated with them, who backed the pharmaceutical companies and what are the full terms and conditions of the deals including possible loans attached to these deals.
“Following reports of the latest updates on the Philippines’ procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, we dare the Duterte administration to fully disclose how the Sinovac vaccine was chosen over other available COVID-19 vaccines from other pharmaceutical companies,” Castro said.
She said the public has the right and should know how the government is spending the taxpayers’ money.
“The people must know how the Duterte administration came to the conclusion that the Sinovac vaccine would be the best for the Filipino people despite it being more expensive and have yet to finish trials,” Castro added.
“Other COVID-19 vaccines already have a higher efficacy rate with Pfizer and Moderna both claiming to have 95 percnt efficacy rate, while the Sinovac vaccine has yet to finish their trials,” Castro said.
She also pointed out that Duterte’s willingness to overlook Duque’s lapse in the Pfizer deal showed a lack of determination to secure enough vaccines and their obvious bias toward a vaccine from China.
Sen. Grace Poe on Friday expressed dismay over the government’s missed opportunity to get 10 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in January.
“It’s really tragic and to an extent criminal on their part for having missed the chance of acquiring 10 million vaccines,” Poe said.
She said the country really needs to vaccinate at least 60 to 70 percent of its population, which is at the minimum 70 million.
She said Duque’s hemming and hawing left the country’s bid for economic recovery in limbo.
Poe said she looks forward to the convening of the Senate Committee of the Whole to hear what the Health chief and other concerned officials have to say on the country’s vaccination program. She said it was just right to be transparent with Filipinos about the government’s game plan for acquiring the vaccines.
Senator Francis Pangilinan called on the government to submit a clear and concrete plan on the purchase and roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines before Christmas..
The Senate recently approved Pangilinan’s Senate Resolution 594 asking the Senate Committee of the Whole to look into the government’s national COVID-19 vaccination program.
Pangilinan underscored the importance of conducting the hearing to allay fears about the vaccine and guarantee that the government has a clear plan in the acquisition and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines that are safe for use.
Also, Pangilinan said there is a need to guarantee that the purchase of vaccines is corruption-free.
