AMID reports on the proliferation of a modus embarking on the sale of vaccines and vaccination slots, Malacañang underscored the need for the local government units (LGUs) to pass an ordinance providing sanctions to whoever would be caught and found to be engaged in the dubious jab sales.
“Dapat magpasa ng lokal na ordinansa ang LGUs rito para sa malinaw na basehan ng parusa,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing.
“Libre po ang lahat ng bakuna dahil lahat po ng bakuna ay hindi approved for commercial use. This selling is swindling, if not a violation of FDA law,” added Roque, in reference to the Food and Drug Administration.
A few days ago, media reports hinted at a modus embarking on a sale of slots under the government’s national vaccine rollout. Each slot was said to be costing as much as P15,000 per jab.
“We won’t allow this selling of vaccines because for one, it would jeopardize our commitment with the COVAX Facility which is for equitable vaccine distribution,” Roque said.
COVAX is a global aid facility which pools resources from wealthy nations and firms to aid low- and middle-income countries in their COVID-19 vaccination program.
The Philippines has already received at least 2.6 million doses of donated AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines from the COVAX facility.