The Philippine government is asking an India-based biopharmaceutical firm to put up a manufacturing facility in the Philippines, where it would produce COVID-19 vaccines for the consumption of the Philippines.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said Wednesday that the idea of having a foreign biopharmaceutical company produce COVID-19 vaccines locally would somehow allow the Philippines to learn the process.
Galvez had just returned from India where he signed a deal for 30-million Novavax doses.
“Tayo po ay nakipag-usap sa SII (Serum Institute of India) upang pag-aralan ang posibilidad na ibalik ang kakayahan ng ating bansa na makapag-produce ng sarili nitong bakuna,” Galvez told reporters.
“Ang ganda po ng SII, meron silang 136 na scientists at gusto nilang tulungan tayo na tayo ay makapag-produce ng sarili nating bakuna,” added the National Task Force (NTF) chief implementer who hinted at the SII as the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, supplying AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 jab.
The Philippines can bring back the vaccine production capability that it had in 1938 to ensure a steady and stable supply of vaccines amid the pandemic, he further averred.
“Napakaganda… It will require an economy-of-scale investment. Para sa ‘tin po talaga na magkaroon ng definitive na source ng vaccine,” he said.
The Philippines has been lagging behind Asian counterparts in vaccination against the deadly virus from Wuhan, China. To date, the government has only managed to inject vaccines to 240,297 health workers from its target of 70 million Filipinos.