THE Philippines has secured 30 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine Covovax for 15 million vulnerable and poor Filipinos which will be available starting third quarter of this year, the Department of Health (DOH) announced late Sunday.
“This is a significant milestone in relations between India and the Philippines. It shows that we don’t have to look far beyond Philippine shores to find friends who are willing to help each other out,” Kishore Hemlani, Founder of Faberco Life Sciences Inc., SII’s Philippine partner, said National Task Force against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.
As this developed, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III revealed on television that 25 million doses of Sinovac vaccine – by a private Chinese company — were also secured by the country. The first batch is expected to arrive in the country by February while succeeding batches will arrive by the end of 2021.
“This is in addition to AstraZeneca,” Duque said, adding that this was confirmed by Galvez, who had, together with several big private Philippine companies, been sourcing the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Covovax vaccine
Galvez represented the Philippine government during the signing of an agreement with Serum Institute of India (SII) and Faberco Life Sciences, Inc., on January 9, 2021 to secure the supply of 30 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine Covovax.
SII, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, partnered with Novavax, a US-based biotechnology company for the development and commercialization of the Covovax vaccine.
The vaccine has the recombinant coronavirus spike protein nanoparticle and a Novavax-patented Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance the immune response and stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies. Covovax is in third-stage trials and is expected to be approved for use by international regulators.
“The vaccine will be used to vaccinate 15 million vulnerable and poor Filipinos. The vaccine is stable at 2°C to 8°C, the standard temperature that is within the existing cold chain system in the Philippines, thus allowing its distribution to the remotest barangays,” said Faberco Life Sciences Medical Director Dr. Luningning Villa.
The candidate vaccine is thoroughly evaluated in different geographies, various age groups, groups that are most affected by Covid-19, including people living with HIV, and racial and ethnic minorities.
The clinical trials involve a sizeable population of around 50,000 subjects to ensure extreme robust clinical data prior to approval by relevant regulatory bodies including the World Health Organization.
It underwent the initial phase of the clinical trials in Australia, South Africa and India. Phase-3 trial is currently carried out in the UK with 15,000 subjects and is also ongoing in the United States and Mexico with 30,000 subjects.
The price of the vaccine is expected to be finalized soon between the government and SII, which is noted for providing effective, safe and affordable vaccines across the globe through the decades. SII is a dependable supplier of various vaccines to the Philippines, especially those used in the government’s Expanded Program for Immunization.
Faberco Life Sciences, Inc. is also SII’s partner for key programs in the country such as the Inactivated Polio vaccine, Rotavirus vaccine, Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccine, aside from the Covid-19 vaccine.