HEALTH Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday said around 3.76 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been wasted as of April 3, or about 1.53 percent of the 244.657 million doses received by the country since last year.
The World Health Organization uses a 10 percent indicative wastage rate in the planning and forecasting of vaccine supply needs, according to a joint statement issued by the DOH and the National Task Force against COVID-19 (NTF) on Monday night.
The DOH and the NTF said they and the National Vaccination Operations Center, local government units (LGUs), and the private sector
are taking steps to coordinate with all concerned to prevent further wastage.
President Duterte, in his weekly “Talk to the People” address last night, said COVID-19 vaccines that are nearing expiration should just be donated to other countries that have no access to the vaccines yet or be used for the “last minute” house-to-house drive.
“Dapat magamit, kung hindi magamit, mag-expire iyan, itatapon talaga natin (The vaccines should be used, if we do not use it, it will expire and we will have to throw it),” Duterte said.
The DOH and the NTF said they and the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC), local government units (LGUs), and the private sector are taking steps to coordinate with all concerned to prevent further wastage.
They also said that from the start, the government has exerted efforts to secure as many vaccines as it can with the help of LGUs, the private sector and other partners to ensure there will be supplies on hand.
“Most of the doses that will expire by July 2022 were either donated by other countries, or procured by local governments and the private sector. No one could guarantee for certain that manufacturers could deliver at the scale and schedule our people required; hence, decisions were made to secure as many doses as could be obtained from wherever they could be sourced,” the statement said.
It added that the government continues to pursue efforts to convince more people to be inoculated, especially those from vulnerable sectors.
As of April 4, at least 143 million doses of vaccines have been administered nationwide.
Some 66.23 million individuals are now fully vaccinated while 12.2 million have received their booster shots out of about 46.8 million eligible individuals.
The government failed to meet its target of fully vaccinating around 77 million people or 70 percent of the population by the end of March.
DONATION
The DOH and NTF said the government has been working with manufacturers to extend the shelf life of vaccines based on updated scientific data, and is now working on donating the “excess yet viable doses as an international act of goodwill.”
“We will also continue and even intensify or innovate in the measures meant to increase coverage of both the primary series and booster doses, and where needed, recommend that the Philippines donate excess yet viable doses as an international act of goodwill,” the DOH and NTF said.
Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the Philippines is in the process of donating excess vaccines to Myanmar.
He said a letter signed by Duque and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. has been sent to Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. “who then seeks approval from the Office of the President as this is disposition of government property, which is, government-procured vaccines.”
“As of this moment, legal documentation processes are ongoing,” he added.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, in a briefing, said Papua New Guinea is another country eyed for vaccine donation.
“As of now, we have two countries being eyed and are having arrangements finalized.
These are Myanmar and Papua New Guinea,” she said.
On Monday, Duque said some 5 million doses of Sputnik V vaccines are set to be donated to Myanmar. The donation will include Sputnik V Component 1 and Sputnik V Component 2 with about 2.5 million doses each.
Vergeire said the government is still conducting an inventory of the excess vaccines but said not all excess vaccine doses will be donated.
“We will leave some because we still need it,” she said. — With Gerard Naval
