ILOILO Rep. Janet Garin yesterday challenged Secretary Carlito Galvez , chief of the National Task Force against COVID-19 (NTF) and vaccine czar, to disclose who decides how COVID-19 vaccines are allocated among provinces, saying it is obvious that patronage system is at play.
“He (Galvez) can judge for himself whether he is effective as a vaccine czar or not. Sa pananaw ko ay kailangan maging honest siya kasi ang palaging sagot, ‘DOH ang nag-a-allocate’ (I think he should be honest because he always says, ‘It’s the DOH that is allocating the vaccines’),” Garin, a health secretary in the previous administration, told an online press conference.
She said everybody knows that it is not the DOH, but Galvez and NTF deputy chief and testing czar Vince Dizon are the ones allocating the vaccines.
Garin’s statements came a day after Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon asked Galvez to buy the “most effective” vaccines and “set aside his personal preference, or that of the administration,” for the vaccine made by the Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech.
Responding to Drilon, Galvez yesterday said all vaccines being used in the country, including Sinovac’s CoronaVac, underwent “rigorous” review by the government’s Vaccine Experts Panel and passed the criteria of the Food and Drug Administration before it was issued an emergency use authorization.
He said the Sinovac vaccine is being used in at least 28 countries and based on trials abroad, it is 90 percent effective in preventing intensive care admissions and deaths in Uruguay and 94 percent effective in protecting health care workers in Indonesia. He said this means “Sinovac is performing well and at par with Western-made vaccine brands.”
“We listen and follow the panel’s assessment on what vaccines to procure to ensure that they are all safe and effective regardless of brands… We ensure that all the policies that we craft and implement are science-based and evidence-based. I will always consider the advice of our experts and not from people who do not want to listen to more prudent and deliberate decision-making,” he added.
Garin slammed what she called the “palakasan” (patronage system) in the distribution of vaccines.
“Alam naman ng lahat na hindi DOH ang nag-a-allocate dahil hindi makagalaw ang departamento dahil sila ni (Dizon) ang tinuturong nag-a-allocate ng bakuna (Everyone knows that it’s not the DOH that allocates because the department can’t do anything because they (Galvez and Dizon) are said to be be the ones allocating it),” Garin said.
Health Undersecretary Abdullah Dumama, who heads the field implementation and coordination team in the Visayas and Mindanao, earlier shrugged off complaints after Davao City, which is led by presidential daughter Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio, and Cebu City, both received 210,000 Pfizer shots from the COVAX Facility’s recent delivery of 2.27 million doses.
He denied the DOH was playing favoritism, saying the two cities received huge vaccine allocations because both have the capability to store the jabs in ultra-low temperature freezers.
Dumama also said the the vaccines sent to Davao City will be used for the whole region, not just Davao City.
Last week, deputy speaker Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City complained about alleged government neglect of his province and other provinces in the Visayas in Mindanao that are suffering from COVID-19 surges. Rodriguez even had to ask Vice President Leni Robredo for help in bringing her vaccine hub project to his province.
Garin said the the distribution of vaccines should be based on the population of an area and not on whoever is requesting more from officials of the Duterte administration.
“Why don’t we do it scientifically and come up with a formula?” she said. “At bakit kailangang kung sino ang tatawag, kung sino yung kaibigan or kung sino ‘yung nagagalit, dun ka (And why is it that whoever calls, whoever is a friend, or whoever is angry, are given preference?)
While it is understandable to give preference to some politicians whose provinces are having surges, Garin said, it should not be done at the expense of other areas that are waiting for vaccines. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
