Gov’t eyes to vaccinate 100% of PH adult population
FILE PHOTO: Vials with a sticker reading, “COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / Injection only” and a medical syringe are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken October 31, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government is eyeing to vaccinate 100% of the country’s adult population against Covid-19, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Monday.
The Philippines is securing vaccine doses via a multilateral approach, partnerships with the private sector, and partnerships with local government units, which are coordinated so that the country will have “enough doses to vaccinate 100% of the adult population,” Dominguez said.
The government is eyeing to procure at least 146 million to 148 million vaccine doses, he said.
“Itong 146 million or 148 million doses will vaccinate 76 million of adults, more than 100% of the adult population,” Dominguez said during President Rodrigo Duterte’s weekly public address.
He said the government has around $1.38 billion from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank which it will use to procure the vaccines.
The government is also negotiating 106 million doses of vaccines from vaccine manufacturers, which is worth $1.2 billion, and around 40 million doses sourced from the COVAX Facility which is worth $84 million.
Dominguez said the government is also negotiating for 92 million doses of vaccines as a contingency, in case there will be delays in production and delivery.
“To be safe, we are negotiating more than what we need of 70 million,” the finance secretary said.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said the Philippines is expecting 5.6 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca in the first quarter of this year through the COVAX facility.
The Philippines will be securing 148 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from different drugmakers including Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Novovax, Johnson and Johnson, Gamaleya, and the Bharat BioTech, Galvez said.
The national government, about 300 companies, and 39 local government units have also signed a tripartite agreement to secure 17 million doses of vaccines of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca.
