PRESIDENT Duterte appears to be certain that at least two countries will provide the Philippines with a supply of Covid-19 vaccines without asking for a reservation fee, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
In a virtual Palace briefing, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte is sure that China and Russia will not require the Philippines to enter into an advance market commitment (AMC)-based agreement before providing a supply of vaccine.
AMC for vaccines aims to make the market for vaccines in developing countries more attractive through a legally binding commitment to purchase vaccines according to predetermined terms, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
“We don’t know if any company in the United States will in fact give us without payment of AMC but he’s sure that if it comes from Russia, if it comes from China, we can,” Roque said.
Roque reiterated the President’s earlier statement that he does not agree with paying for something that is not certain, even if they were already in their advanced stages of clinical trials.
Malacañang, however, assured the public that the government is pushing for the equitable distribution of vaccines for Covid-19.
Roque said the diplomatic mission in Geneva, for one, is actively engaging relevant parties so the Philippines will have access to the Covid vaccine being developed under the Vaccines Global Access (Covax) facility.
“If there will be no agreement [for vaccine distribution], only the rich countries will have the vaccine,” Roque explained.
“So I think it is agreed upon that there should be equitable distribution of vaccine and I believe [on the statement] of many countries, particularly in Europe, in declaring that the pandemic is a fight not just of one country but of the entire world,” he added.
Covax is being managed by Gavi, a Geneva-based international public-private organization, which aims to facilitate the distribution of vaccines nationwide, particularly in poor countries.
Last month, the Department of Science and Technology announced the government is targeting to secure Covid-19 vaccine from Covax, which will be enough for an initial 3 million Filipinos.
The coordination with Covax is just one of the government’s initiatives to get supplies of Covid-19 vaccines, once it becomes available.
Alternative means
Currently, the government will also be participating in the seven clinical trials of potential vaccines for Covid-19 in the hope it will be allowed to be among the first to be allowed to buy the said products.
President Duterte, however, reiterated that the country will not be making any advance payments to get the said vaccines.
Even without such advance payments, President Duterte said he is still confident the country would still be able to buy the vaccines through the country’s “fostered ties” with other nations, according to Roque.
“The style of the President is if we will not make any [advance] payments, we will make use of our friendship [with other countries] instead,” Roque explained.
Duterte said he is anticipating the country will be “better off” by January 2021, when some of the vaccines for Covid-19 are expected to become available to the market.