Registration requirements and high vaccine demand abroad hinder government attempts to secure more Covid-19 vaccines, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa said the DOH could no longer easily procure Covid-19 vaccines with the expiration of the national public health emergency this year.
The state of public health emergency allowed the local use of Covid-19 jabs as long as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could issue the necessary emergency use authorization (EUA) for procurement.
Without a public health emergency declaration, Herbosa said Covid-19 vaccines must now be registered with the FDA to be used locally.
“So we hit a snag there, but we are trying hard to get all these bivalent [vaccines],” Herbosa said.
Further complicating their vaccine procurement attempts, he added, is the high demand for Covid-19 jabs worldwide.
“Remember we are not the only country that wants the bivalent, all other countries are also scrambling to get some of it,” Herbosa said.
Priority sectors
The DOH said it is aiming to purchase more vaccines since it currently has only 390,000 Covid-19 bivalent vaccine, which were donated by the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX).
“This 390,000 jabs are really insufficient. So what we will have to do is to prioritize who needs it first,” Herbosa said.
The said Covid-19 jabs will be allocated for the elderly, for those with existing comorbidities, and health-care workers.
In preparation for the rollout of the said jabs, which arrived in the country this month, Herbosa said they have already started redistribution to their different regional offices.
“We will continue to push for people to get vaccinated because it will prevent you, especially if you are at high risk of mortality, from dying,” Herbosa said.