President Rodrigo R. Duterte said he wants a government-to-government deal to buy Covid-19 vaccines from China.
Duterte this will ensure the government’s purchase will push through and will be free from possible anomalies.
“Let me tell everybody that we will not beg [for the vaccine]. We will pay.So it is better it goes through government-to-government ang transaction. There will be no corruption,” Duterte said during his public address on Tuesday evening.
He said he is considering making the purchase from China since it is said to be among the countries, which are leading in terms of developing a potential vaccine for Covid-19.
It was reported that China was already using one of the Covid-19 vaccines it is developing en masse on it citizens.
“As I have said earlier in the days that followed the COVID contamination, I expect China to come up first [with the vaccine for it] because I believe in Chinese expertise and knowledge. And I was not wrong. They already have it,” Duterte said.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) director general Eric Domingo, however, stressed that even China make available its Covid-19 vaccine to the market, it will still have to be registered with FDA because it could be used locally.
Health officials said this may not be completed until April of next year.
Cold storage
Nevertheless, the government is now in making preparations to purchase Covid-19 vaccines, which includes allocating the necessary funds and cold chain storage facility for it.
The Department of Finance (DOF) has allocated a P20 billion fund to purchase an initial batch of Covid-19 vaccines.
Domingo, however, noted the government currently lacks the necessary cold chain storage facility for the mass purchase of Covid-19 vaccines.
“We usually only vaccinate about 10 to 20 million people, so that is what we can hold [in our current storage facility],” Domingo said.
Duterte said he wants almost all of the country’s 108 million population to be inoculated for Covid-19 for free.
Aside from storage facility, Domingo also said the government currently lacks the delivery trucks with cold storage capability to transfer the vaccines.
“But I think they are now planning [some cold storage trucks] to prepare for the arrival of the vaccine,” Domingo said.
He noted the importance of having the necessary storage facility and trucks for the vaccines will lose efficacy if it is failed to kept in low temperatures.
Image credits: AP/Bullit Marquez