THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) conceded that their proposed P45.37 billion budget for Covid-19 vaccines for 2022 would have to be augmented for the country to achieve a higher level of herd immunity due to the spread of the Delta variant.
DBM Officer-In-Charge Tina Marie Canda admitted on Wednesday that the preparations for the proposed 2022 national budget came ahead of discussions on the more contagious variant.
“When the budget was prepared way back in April or May, there was no discussion at that time regarding the Delta variant, regarding inoculating our citizens 18 years old and below,” Canda said during the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) briefing with the Senate Committee on Finance on the proposed 2022 national budget.
“The funding for the doses at that time given the information we had was limited to that amount. However, with this new information, certain adjustments we admit must be done to the Department of Health [budget],” she said.
Canda made the response after Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto wondered aloud whether the budget for Covid-19 vaccines is sufficient to cover the possible increase in the number of people needing to be inoculated, including those below 18, for the country to vaccinate as much as 90 percent of the population given the threat of the Delta variant.
Recto raised the question to DBM after Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua cited, in the same briefing, new studies suggesting that countries may now need to achieve more than 70 percent of herd immunity because of the Delta variant.
“Initially I understand that 70 percent would be needed for herd immunity, but because of the Delta variant, there are now new studies suggesting, either a higher level of herd immunity or learning to accept that this virus may become endemic, meaning, it may not disappear soon. Thus, requiring annual shots as if it were a flu,” Chua said. “So, that is the evolving thinking, and I understand the budget for next year has allocation for booster shots. Of course, we are monitoring this and trying to understand the direction on how we deal with the vaccination strategy.”
Senator Joel Villanueva also pointed out that the proposed P45.37-billion budget for vaccine booster shots as submitted by the DBM to Congress was less compared to the P104 billion proposed by the Department of Health.
Villanueva also echoed the other House members’ concern that the budget for booster shots was lodged under Unprogrammed Appropriations, meaning, this purpose will only be funded if the government has excess revenues.
Dominguez: Supply issue
For his part, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said it is the supply problem with Covid-19 vaccines that hinders the vaccination program.
For the first week of September, the finance chief said the country only got 3.5 million doses, which is even less than half of the 9 million doses that the country needs every week to inoculate its population. Moreover, Dominguez pointed out the government has already done its part in setting aside the money up to ordering and negotiating for the vaccines, but it is the pharmaceutical companies who needed to step up.
“You know what we need to, to inoculate everybody is 9 million doses, arriving a week. Okay. We have already ordered it. We have set aside the money for it. Now it is up to the pharmas to deliver,” he said.
Based on the current trend, Dominguez also said it “looks probable” for the country to vaccinate 77 million people by the first quarter of next year but this still depends on the supply of vaccines.
He indicated some suppliers of vaccine in the private sector encountered problems resulting in some delays, but added there were other vaccine suppliers ready to fill the gap. The supply of Sinovac, account for 50 percent of overall deliveries to the country, is stable, meanwhile.
For his part, Secretary Chua of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reported that as of September 7, at least 36.2 million doses of the vaccine were already injected while 15.3 million Filipinos were injected with the second dose from the 20.9 million injected with the first dose.
For this year, Dominguez said they expect a total of 195.67 million doses to cover 100.83 million individuals, of which 52.79 million has already been delivered as of September 7.
With Butch Fernandez