PH offering to pay more for early delivery of Covid-19 vaccines – Galvez

MANILA, Philippines —The Philippines is offering to pay “a little higher” for Covid-19 vaccines as long as they will be delivered early, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the vaccine czar,  said in a pre-recorded briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte that aired on Wednesday.

Galvez told Duterte that only 5.1 million doses of the vaccine would arrive in the first quarter.

“That’s why there are negotiations with the British government, China, India, and also with Russia that, if possible, they could deliver more during the first quarter,” Galvez said in Filipino.

“And we’re negotiating that, even if it becomes a bit more expensive, just as long as there’s early delivery in the second quarter and in the first quarter,” he added.

Galvez did not identify the vaccine manufacturers.

Due to the shortage of supplies for the first and second quarter of the year, Galvez said the main rollout for the Covid-19 vaccines would be in the third and fourth quarter.

The Philippines will receive 161 million doses of Covid-19 shots by the end of 2021, Galvez noted.

The government plans to start Covid-19 vaccinations as soon as the Sinovac vaccines – of which 600,000 doses were donated by the Chinese government — arrive.

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