DAVAO CITY—Mayor Sara Duterte said the city government would be spending its own funds to procure coronavirus vaccines abroad if the city could buy directly from vaccine makers and the national government allowed it.
The mayor said it involved a lengthy process since no vaccine has been approved yet and if one was, it would need approval by the national government for the city to directly buy it.
“It’s a long process but because the pandemic is also long,” said Duterte, daughter of the President. “I’m sure we can come up with something for Davao City,” she said as she reached out to pharmaceutical firms abroad for early access to the vaccines.
Long before news came out about the success of vaccine trials, Duterte said she had already gotten in touch with one vaccine maker abroad.
An official of one of the drug companies she first approached told her to write to the company to arrange early access to the vaccines but when she did, the company wrote back that the vaccines it was making were not for profit and that they would only sell to the Department of Health (DOH).
“I did not pursue it because I saw that (that negotiation) was (already) a deadend, so, I scouted for other vaccine makers,” the mayor said over the Davao City Disaster Radio but did not disclose the names of the companies or the countries where these companies operated.
Another company she had contacted recently said that because there was no approved vaccine for release yet, all current vaccines would be for emergency use only.
“I told him we will buy (the vaccines) directly from the company but I was told that since there was no eligible vaccine approved for release yet; large scale production and sale cannot be arranged at the present stage,” she said.
The company, however, encouraged the city government to participate in the Phase 3 clinical trials to have access to the vaccines for emergency cases.
“There is a suggestion that Davao City apply for the Phase 3 clinical trials. Then the vaccine with credibility may be practically used for volunteers,” the mayor said.
“We are at the stage where we are going to ask the company if it is willing to do a Phase 3 clinical trial in Davao City,” the mayor said.
“I will have to write again and ask them if they are willing, and if they say, yes, we will have to ask the national government to grant us permission to participate,” she said.
She said that the city already prepared a draft ordinance that would make free and voluntary vaccination available to workers on the frontline of the fight against the pandemic.
Several businessmen in the city have also expressed willingness to donate or set aside money for the procurement of the vaccines, the mayor said.
“There are a number of businessmen here who are saying they have the money and the resources and they want to donate money to the city government for the vaccination program but the question is where to source and how to access (these vaccines),” Duterte said.
She added that the national government had not yet considered allowing the local government units (LGUs) direct access to the vaccines.
“But for me, in my opinion, if they allow LGUs to move on their own to access vaccines approved by the national government, then, the LGUs may be able to help the national government move the vaccines to a large segment of the population,” Duterte said.