President Rodrigo Duterte expressed hope that the country’s recovery is within sight even as officials vouched for the safety of all COVID-19 vaccines that will be bought and administered.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel. National recovery is within sight,” Duterte said in a video message at the signing of the tripartite agreement involving local government units (LGUs) and private companies for the purchase of 17 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The AstraZeneca supply deal – the country’s second – involves about 300 private companies and 39 local government units in partnership with the national government. The first deal, signed last November, cleared the way for the procurement of 2.6 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by the government and 30 conglomerates.
Duterte praised the business community and the LGUs for their support to the fight against COVID-19.
“Our tripartite agreement is a true showcase of unity, of purpose, and principled partnership benefitting our public. This is bayanihan at work,” he said.
“You have my full support. Together, we can ensure a safe, sure and secure roll-out of our national immunization program,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health vouched for the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines that will enter the country, after health care workers were told they cannot choose the brand of the vaccine they will receive.
The first vaccines expected to arrive next month are from China’s Sinovac but other brands will also enter the country through the World Health Organization’s COVAX facility immunization program.
“Health are workers won’t be given a chance to choose, whatever is assigned to them will be given to them,” DOH spokesperson Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an interview on ANC’s Headstart.
“We know the supplies are limited…Whatever vaccines will come into the country, the government will guarantee it will be safe and it will provide the protection that we need,” she said.
Giving health workers – the first in line for COVID-19 jabs – the option to choose their vaccine will be “very tedious,” Vergeire said.
She added that the latest study from Brazil on the efficacy of Sinovac’s vaccine shows that it prevents by 50 percent the risk of infection and reduces the chances of hospitalization.
“If we get sick, it won’t be severe and we won’t get hospitalized. That’s one of our objectives on why we’re doing this,” she said.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said health workers may sign a waiver refusing the vaccine assigned to them, but this would move them to the end of the immunization line.
“If Sinovac arrives first and it’s NCR frontliners, it’s either you take it or you don’t. You sign a waiver saying you understand, you waive your slot in the queue,” Nograles told ANC in a separate interview.
Duterte, in a late-night televised address Wednesday, defended the government’s decision to buy China’s Sinovac vaccines, saying these are as good as those developed in Western countries.
“The Chinese are not lacking in brains,” Duterte said. “The Chinese are bright. They would not venture (into producing vaccines) if it is not safe, sure and secure. That is the guarantee.”
The President gave the assurance amid questions raised about Sinovac’s efficacy and its cost.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque, meanwhile, denied reports that Sinovac had the second most expensive vaccine, saying it was in fact the cheapest.
He would not say how much a dose would cost, however, saying this was covered by a non-disclosure agreement.
“The Sinovac vaccine is not the most expensive. That is just something the opposition started,” he said, incorrectly quoting reports that claimed the Chinese vaccine was the second most expensive.
He said from February to June, Sinovac would be the only vaccines available because the Western brands are not expected to come in until the third quarter of the year.
“It does not mean that once Sinovac arrives in February, we will stop our effort to buy vaccines from other manufacturers,” Roque said.
The government will procure 25 million doses of Sinovac Vaccines, despite its low efficacy rate of 50.4 percent in Brazil and its supposedly high cost of P3,629 for two doses.
Roque said only the vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be used in the mass inoculation program. So far, only Pfizer received an emergency use authorization (EUA) for its vaccine.
Russia’s Gamaleya and Sinovac’s EUA applications remain pending before the FDA.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives will hold a public hearing on the government’s COVID-19 vaccination plan next week to ensure that the multi-billion-peso budget allocated for it will be used to buy the most effective and safest vaccines against the virus.
The House committee on health, chaired by Quezon 4th District Rep. Angelina Tan, will conduct virtual hearing on Jan. 18.
The committee’s resource persons include Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.
“There have been a lot of differing opinions, mostly from non-medical experts, regarding government-procured vaccines,” Tan said. “As such, we would like to hear from the experts themselves to determine facts and figures from a scientific point of view.”
Tan said she is optimistic that through the hearing, Congress will be able to ascertain concrete legislative actions that will help the executive in ensuring the planned mass vaccination will be a success.
“Congress will do what it can to help government agencies in arresting the pandemic,” said Tan, a physician.
She added: “We all want to return to our daily routines before COVID-19. As representatives of the people in Congress, we will do our part in making that happen sooner rather than later.”
More senators, meanwhile, called on the government to allow Filipinos to choose their own COVID-19 vaccines or give Filipinos the best—those with 90 percent efficacy.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said if the government plans to buy China’s Sinovac vaccine, it must guarantee that its efficacy is on par with those from Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
“We want only the best for our countrymen,” Gatchalian said, adding that the FDA should study carefully the efficacy of Sinovac.
Senator Panfilo Lacson said it was common sense for the national government to kickstart its vaccination program with the highest efficacy vaccines. He said this could build the confidence of the Filipinos towards mass inoculation, given their strong aversion to vaccination.
“Cockiness has no place in a pandemic situation. Certainly this is not a smart information campaign to promote mass vaccination,” he said.
Senator Grace Poe said the Filipino people have every right to choose which vaccine to take because it is their money the government is spending to procure the precious doses.
“Rich or poor, everyone should have access to a vaccine that is safe and effective,” she said.
She said getting people to trust science requires transparency and openness to questions to allay their apprehensions and allow them to make informed choices.
She said questions still linger in people’s minds as to why the government sealed an agreement with Sinovac when it’s vaccine is not FDA-approved.
“Why is Sinovac being favored when it only has 50-percent efficacy and [has] the least transparency? Who are they trying to favor or appease?” she asked.
Senator Francis Pangilinan said following the results of a new study in Brazil showing a 50.4-percent efficacy rate of Sinovac vaccine, the Department of Health should reconsider its order to purchase these vaccines.
“Sinovac, with just over 50 percent efficacy, is six times more expensive than AstraZeneca, which in contrast shows a 70-percent efficacy. Sinovac is more expensive yet it has the lowest efficacy. Given these latest findings, we call on the DOH to cancel the purchase of said vaccines,” Pangilinan said.
“Why will we pay for a more expensive vaccine that has lowest efficacy?” he added.
The efficacy rate for the other vaccines are: Moderna, 95 percent, Pfizer and BioNTech 95 percent, Gamaleya 92 percent, and AstraZeneca 70 percent.
The efficacy rate measures the reduction in the risk of infection of an individual inoculated with the vaccine, not the entire population.
According to data shared during the interpellation on the bicameral report on the 2021 national budget, the cost of two doses of the Sinovac vaccine is P3,629.50. This is cheaper than Moderna at P3,904-P4,504, but more expensive than Pfizer, P2,379, Gamaleya, P1,220, or through the Covax facility P854, AstraZeneca, P610, and Novavax, P366.
The Philippines has secured 25 million doses from China’s Sinovac Biotech, with the first 50,000 expected to arrive in February. Roque said the rest of the Sinovac vaccines will arrive in batches from March until December and that Filipinos will not be able to choose their vaccine.
“Why are we going to give doubtful vaccines to our people? We are just wasting funds in buying Sinovac because there are many other vaccines we can choose from,” Pangilinan said.
In Metro Manila, local government units have allocated funds to procure doses from AstraZeneca while the Ayala Group has pledged 450,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines as its contribution to the national vaccine program.
The FDA on Thursday granted its first EUA to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
The FDA said in its statement the granting of the EUA is not a marketing authorization or a certificate of product registration, hence this cannot be used to market the vaccine commercially.
Evaluation was based on current available data it said.
The safety and efficacy were reviewed by a panel of clinical experts and the quality data was reviewed by technical experts from FDA Center for Drugs Regulation and Research.
Meanwhile, FDA Director General Eric Domingo said China’s Sinovac has applied for EUA for its vaccine. He said the company would need to the results of its Phase 3 clinical trials before it can obtain an EUA.
The Palace on Thursday said vaccines developed by Pfizer and Gameleya may be delivered to the Philippines as early as next month, contradicting an earlier statement released by Roque saying that Sinovac would be the only vaccine available until June.