DOH: Study on PH production of COVID-19 jab may be finished by November

MANILA, Philippines — The government’s feasibility study on the local production of COVID-19 vaccines may be completed by November, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.

According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, the “vaccine self-reliance initiative” is lodged under the programs of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in partnership with the Asian Development Bank.

“Since months ago pa po inumpisahan kung saan nagkakaroon na tayo ng feasibility study sa ngayon and apparently it’s going to be finished I think by November of this year,” she said during an online media briefing.

“Kapag lumabas na itong feasibility study na makakapagtayo tayo ng COVID-19 vaccine plan, uumpisahan naman ang iba nating kailangan gawin,” she added.

Vergeire likewise said the government through the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Department of Trade and Industry is already in discussions with foreign vaccine manufacturers and local partners regarding the initiative.

“Hopefully kapag natapos ang feasibility study (when the feasibility study is finished), we can already start doing the other things so we can set it up by next year,” she added.

In April, the DOST said the country may begin producing COVID-19 vaccines by late 2022 through the private sector. The DOST said the national government is currently in talks with six potential local vaccine manufacturers, of which two have been “aggressive” in planning for the local production of anti-coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, Glovax Biotech Corp. is eyeing to start in October next year the operation of a facility that will fill vials with a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by its partner in South Korea, according to DTI.

KGA