MALACAÑANG yesterday said the Philippines is showing gratitude by donating $1 million to the COVAX Facility, a global vaccine-sharing initiative in the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
President Duterte on Monday night said the country is donating $1 million to the World Health Organization-backed COVAX Facility to help in its efforts to procure more COVID vaccines that will be distributed to poor and to developing countries.
The Philippines is a recipient of COVAX vaccines.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said COVAX delivered at least 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines and 193,050 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech last month. Another 2.2 million doses of Pfizer vaccines and 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines are expected from COVAX this month. Galvez said the country expects at least 2 million doses under COVAX every month thereafter.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the President and Filipinos know how to show gratitude.
“Likas sa atin ang tumanaw na utang na loob. Kung inyong matatandaan, marami sa ating ginamit na bakuna ay galing po sa COVAX Facility (It is inherent in Filipinos to acknowledge a debt of gratitude. If you could remember, many of the vaccines that we are using now came from the COVAX Facility),” he said.
The COVAX vaccines are being used for priority sectors under the vaccination program of government such as health workers (priority A1), elders (A2), and with comorbidities (A3).
These would soon be used on the indigent or poor sector (A5).
The President, on Monday night, said that at the time the Philippines needed the vaccines the most, the COVAX was able to help the country, along with the Chinese government.
China donated a million doses of Sinovac vaccines and 1,000 Sinopharm doses to the Philippines around the start of the national vaccination program which began on March 1.
“We were recipients of COVAX vaccines many times and it has helped a lot in our desire to vaccinate Filipinos. Ngayon sila naman ang nagkulang ng pera (Now, they are short on funds) maybe because they are helping other nations all over the world… The Philippines is giving $1 million,” he said.
Duterte said it is the Philippines’ way of returning the goodwill.
The country has so far received about 8.3 million doses of procured and donated vaccines and administered 5.18 million doses as of May 30. This month, it will receive at least 4.5 million doses of vaccines made by Sinovac Biotech of China, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna from COVAX, and Russia’s Gamaleya.
The government expects delivery of 15 million to 20 million doses starting August and every month thereafter.
Galvez said vaccinating all adults by August, if vaccine supply is sufficient, is not far-fetched.
He said bulk of the vaccine deliveries would start to come in this month and the continued shipments would help the government inoculate between 19 million to 25 million people soon to achieve population protection.
The country is still eyeing the vaccination of 50 million to 70 million by the end of the year to achieve herd immunity.
Galvez said the government is raising its target of 500,00 jabs a day to 740,000 per day and putting up at least 6,000 vaccination centers from the target 5,000 vaccination centers.
He said the government also aims to start vaccinating economic frontliners (A4) and indigents (A5) by mid-June as the government continues to complete the vaccination of the A1 to A3 categories.
The Department of Health gave the assurance that vaccine storage facilities are prepared for power outages.
“The National Vaccination Operations Center has issued guidance and instructions to local vaccination operations centers, implementing units, and vaccination sites to ensure that contingency plans are in place,” said the DOH after the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines placed on red alert the Luzon grid, including Metro Manila.
The alert means there is a possibility of rotational brownouts throughout Luzon and Metro Manila.
SEAFARERS
President Duterte said he is “inclined” to approve giving Western vaccines to Filipino seafarers if it is really required for their work.
“We are ready to vaccinate them with the Western brand. There is no violation of the equal protection of laws… but this is what the nature of their work requires,” the President said.
He, however, reiterated that all vaccines, regardless of brand, are effective.
Roque, during the “Talk to the People” event Monday night, said seafarers want vaccines authorized for use by the European Union such as Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines yesterday asked the government to provide seafarers single-dose vaccines.
“Seafarers should preferably be given a single-dose type of vaccine because of the unpredictability of their next deployment,” TUCP vice president Luis Corral said in a statement.
“Once seafarers are called for deployment, they should be ready to board or to fly out at a moment’s notice. Therefore, there is no luxury of time for a second jab,” he also said.
Corral said seafarers on vessels visiting US ports have been given the single-dose Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine.
“AstraZeneca is out of the question because of the eight to 12-week period in between the first and second jabs,” said Corral.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said, “Once they are vaccinated with one dose, they are already good to go. They will already be accepted sans undergoing swabbing and quarantine.”
To note, Filipinos make up about a quarter of the global seafarer population. There are some 460,000 Filipino seafarers deployed around the world.
Last week, Malacañang announced that OFWs set to be deployed within four months of their target vaccination date are now part of the priority group A1. — With Gerard Naval
