THE Philippine government hinted on commencing public vaccination by May next year — that is if the government would be able to secure an advance order from countries which were able to successfully develop, test and guarantee potency of their COVID-19 vaccines, says vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez.
Galvez, who was recently tapped to lead the importation and distribution program, said that they are looking to place an advance procurement of about 24 million vaccines within the first quarter of next year.
Among those who’d be prioritized in the public vaccination include frontliners, indigents, and the vulnerable sectors.
Interestingly, Galvez said that the plan however will largely depend on the financing, development and approval of the vaccines — “If everything will go well, ang mangyayari po is earliest is May,” Galvez was quoted as saying.
On the assumption that the Philippines fails to secure vaccines amid high demand for the vaccine supplies, he said that the earliest that the program may begin is by the end of 2021.
“Ang vaccine roadmap po natin is 3 to 5 years. Posible din that you will look at the demand and supply ng vaccine. Before end of 2020, ang presentation sa atin ng World Bank, more or less, 1.4 billion lang ang mapo-produce ng vaccines,” he said.
“Sa ngayon, so far, ang demand ng big countries ay more than that. Talagang magkakahirapan tayo sa demand and supply kaya we’re appealing to the WHO (World Health Organization) na bigyan ng equitable access,” he added.
He further averred that the government already has a “standby fund,” for the procurement “over and above” what could be allocated in next year’s budget as approved by Congress, said Galvez.
To date, the country’s total confirmed cases is pegged at 388,137.