Galvez goes to India on March 9 to sign COVID-19 vaccine supply deals

MANILA, Philippines — Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Monday he is set to fly to India on March 9 to sign the Philippines’ vaccine supply agreements with Novavax and the Serum Institute of India (SII).

“Ang susunod po iyong Novavax, pag punta po namin sa India this coming [March] 9 to 12, pipirma din po kami ng aming supply agreement,” Galvez said during a briefing at the government’s Covid-19 vaccination rollout at the Philippine General Hospital.

(Next is Novavax, when we go to India this coming March 9 to 12, we will sign our supply agreement.)

Earlier, the national government announced securing 30 million doses of Covavax vaccines developed by Novavax and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII).

“At baka magkakaroon po kami ng other supply agreement para naman doon sa AstraZeneca at saka Covishield na bibilin ng gobyerno doon sa Serum Institute of India,” he added.

(We might also have other supply agreements for the AstraZeneca and Covishield that the government will buy from the Serum Institute of India.)

Galvez has previously said that the Philippines is negotiating to get doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, also known as Covishield, manufactured by the SII.

More than 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccines coming from the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility were supposed to arrive in the Philippines Monday but delayed due to global supply problems.

Meanwhile, the Philippines already started its vaccination rollout using Sinovac’s vaccines donated by the Chinese government.

EDV