MANILA, Philippines — The government has allocated funds for the procurement of COVID-19 booster shots in its proposed 2022 national budget, Malacañang said Thursday.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the national government has allocated at least P45 billion for the purchase of booster shots “for all Filipinos.”
“We have a budget entry for booster shots for all Filipinos. This is for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. Kasama ‘yan sa proposed 2022 budget (This is included in the proposed 2022 budget),” Roque said in a Palace briefing.
The proposed national budget for 2022 is worth P5.024 trillion, making it the highest ever in the country’s history.
In Roque’s presentation, the budget for the booster shots is under “Unprogrammed Appropriations,” which means it will only be funded if the government will be able to raise enough money for it.
A total of P240 billion of the proposed 2022 national budget will go to the government’s COVID-19 response, including P140 million for the Philippine Genome Center which sequences specimen to detect COVID-19 variants.
Roque earlier said that the proposed 2022 national budget is eyed to be submitted to Congress on Monday, Aug. 23.
The World Health Organization (WHO) had said current data does not indicate the need for COVID-19 booster shots since many vulnerable people worldwide have yet to be fully vaccinated before high-income countries deploy boosters.