PHILIPPINE Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez warded off alibis of Health Secretary Francisco Duque over the failed bid to secure supplies of COVID-19 vaccines from US-based biopharmaceutical firm Pfizer.
In a statement, Romualdez said that as early as July, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were already talking about including the Philippines on the list of early buyers of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
But when Pfizer informed the Philippine Embassy in Washington that it is now ready to accept orders, Duque allegedly sat on the Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement, which is required to put the Philippines in line of interested countries.
Romualdez said he does not want to judge how officials in Manila assessed and checked the approval of the CDA with Pfizer but said there was a “sense of urgency” needed at that time to sign the document but it was unfortunately not met.
He also clarified that Pfizer did not ask for any down payment before accepting or committing its vaccine as he dismissed speculations that it may have caused the delay and eventual failure to acquire the COVID-19 vaccine by January next year.
Romualdez said Pfizer was only asking for the CDA and the same was echoed by Locsin who insisted that Pfizer never demanded a down payment.
“Anyone says the delay was caused by Pfizer requiring that it be held free and harmless for any harm caused by its vaccine. All vaccine makers demand the same free and harmless clause. I mean f*cking all. Also Pfizer never demanded downpayment. Come up with better b.s. Next,” Locsin said.
Duque earlier said that down payment was previously discussed by Pfizer which was prohibited by the Procurement Reform Act.
“Sa mga usapin noon, ‘yong advance, ‘yong preorder, ‘yong kailangan magbayad, magka-cash advance ka ay hindi naman, wala at that time, I think bago mag-November ang batas na sinabi sa akin ng legal ko ay hindi ito pinapahintulutan sa Procurement Reform Act,” Duque said.
“Ito pong last week of November ay akin pong nabalitaan from DOF na puwede naman pala mag-advance payment with the condition that the president will approve it,” he added.
He also clarified that the down payment was not part of the CDA but if ever the deal would push through, the Philippines need to pay in advance.
This developed as the government claims to be targeting to secure a deal with various manufacturers in the next few weeks.
“We are eyeing to strike a deal with vaccine manufacturers by the end of this year or early January 2021,” National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a statement.
In a briefing, Galvez said the government is eyeing to secure a deal with Pfizer within December or the first week of January this year.
“Inaaantay na lang po ‘yung validation tsaka ‘yung confirmation from the Pfizer headquarters. Once na nagkaroon ng talagang kung ilan ‘yung i-a-allocate sa atin ay magkakaroon na po ng pirmahan. Hopefully ang earliest is within this month, or just in case madelay ‘yung allocation, it will be first week of January,” Galvez said.
“Natutuwa kami sa Pfizer kasi hindi po kami iniwan,” he added.
Without naming Duque, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. earlier said “somebody dropped the ball” which affected the shipment of 10 million doses of Pfizer vaccine to the country by January next year.
Galvez, however, insisted that the Philippines did not miss an opportunity to secure doses of COVID-19 vaccines, noting that “negotiations on many occasions will reach stalemate and gridlock when legal challenges, public interest and safety are at stake.”
He further averred that the Philippines is now in the advanced stages of negotiations with various vaccine manufacturers.
“While our vaccine expert panel and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continuously assess the safety and efficacy of each of the candidate vaccines, we are also trying to get the best price possible to ensure cost-efficiency and equitable access for the poor,” he said.
“Payments will only be done once all the regulatory requirements for Emergency Use Authorization from FDA and the originating country are secured,” he added.
The vaccine czar hinted initial deliveries will be made by March of next year and the inoculation program may commence within that period “given the timeline of production.”
“I will say it again that all vaccines will pass FDA approval to ensure safety and efficacy,” he said.
Galvez noted that the delivery of all vaccines regardless of country of origin and manufacturer will be made in tranches or on a staggered basis, which is the same mode of delivery for developed countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.
He also clarified that the prices released to the media are all commercial prices.
“These are not the negotiated prices given to us by the companies,” the vaccine czar said.
“The negotiated price of a dose of vaccine is mostly at a cost since most of the companies believed that during this pandemic our moral obligation and global interest is to save lives and humanity,” he added.
The vaccine czar explained that negotiations on prices are guided by the Department of Finance in allocating P73 to P75 billion for the inoculation of 60 to 80 million Filipinos and which will allow the country to achieve the WHO’s standard for herd immunity.
“Likewise, we hope to seal deals similar to the tripartite agreement we signed with Astrazeneca, wherein 2.6 million doses of the vaccine were sold to the private sector at no profit, which were in turn, donated to the government at no cost,” Galvez said.
“Again, we want to assure the public that the government will not compromise our vaccine selection, negotiation, and procurement process. No deal will be finalized without the corresponding regulatory approval from their country of origin and Emergency Use Authorization from our FDA,” he stated.