MANILA, Philippines — The decision to allow the private sector to obtain their own COVID-19 vaccines would be a significant boost to the government’s plan to immunize Filipinos against the pandemic, according to Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Tuesday.
Zubiri welcomed the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) decision to authorize private companies to import COVID-19 vaccines in the face of a reported shortage of vials.
President Rodrigo Dutere directed the government to allow private companies to purchase vaccines at will during his briefing on Monday night, given the fact that the country has only imported 1.2 million of the vaccines it purchased — Sinovac Biotech vials that arrived yesterday. The remainder of the country’s vaccines were donated.
READ: Duterte allows private firms to import COVID-19 vaccines ‘at will’
“I laud the decision of the President to allow the private sector to import and buy vaccines at will, as this will be able to assist the government’s vaccination drive to vaccinate as much of the population as possible in the quickest period of time,” Zubiri said in a statement.
Workers in the private sector, according to the senator, should be called economic frontliners because they play a critical role in regenerating the economy and the private-sector employees should be immunized soon.
Zubiri believes lockdowns — like the current enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) over Metro Manila and nearby provinces — can be avoided.
“The private sector has the resources to order the vaccines for their workforce, who can be considered economic frontliners and are important for jumpstarting the economy. This will also prevent any more loss of jobs that could happen through continuous ECQ lockdowns,” he explained.
Duterte discussed stories about countries scrambling for available vaccines during the Monday night briefing, but he declined to go into more detail about the supply fight.
“Something has gone wrong with most of the countries. They shanghaied [the doses]. There’s a ruckus going on and the fight for COVID-19 [vaccine] possession is ongoing, is a very serious one,” he said.
The green light for the private sector came with a stern warning from Duterte to companies that might want to market fake COVID-19 vaccines, warning there would be a place for them.
READ: Don’t you dare spread fake COVID-19 vaccines, Duterte warns private sector
Meanwhile, Zubiri remained steadfast that vaccines are the best options against the pandemic, encouraging the public and government to examine Israel’s successful COVID-19 vaccine rollout program.
“I’ve said time and time again that the solution to this pandemic and to push for a resurgence of our economy is through vaccination. Look at Israel, which has the most efficient roll-out of the vaccines in the world,” Zubiri said.
“Life for them has slowly gone back to normal as they have started to achieve herd immunity amongst their population. Thus, allowing the private sector to purchase and deliver the badly needed vaccines to their workforce will help the government achieve herd immunity for our population,” he noted.
He also asked the IATF to issue vaccination guidelines so that the private sector can begin production.
“We now request the IATF to immediately come out with the guidelines to facilitate the President’s order. Once again, let me stress that aside from the proper health protocols, it is only through vaccinations that we can solve this dreadful pandemic,” he added.