MANILA, Philippines — The inoculation of coronavirus vaccines to the public may start by May next year if everything will go as planned, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Thursday.
“If everything goes well, the earliest is May,” Galvez told ABS-CBN News Channel when asked about the government’s vaccination timeline.
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Galvez, who was recently tapped to lead the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, will present to President Rodrigo Duterte his four-phased roadmap for vaccine distribution. The plan depends on the projection that a vaccine would be approved and available by the first quarter of next year—something which pharmaceutical firms said was a long shot, but possible.
Should there be obstacles in the development and importation of the sought-after vaccines, the vaccination program may begin by the end of next year, he said.
“If there will be hindrances in terms of supply and demand, the earliest maybe is end of 2021,” said Galvez, who is already the pandemic national action plan implementer.
According to the World Health Organization, 10 vaccine candidates are going through Phase 3 clinical trials. Wealthy countries have already reserved billions of doses of potential coronavirus vaccines before these are even approved.
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Palace: Galvez needed for logistics
The appointment of Galvez, the presidential peace adviser and a former chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as the vaccine czar has been criticized as the position should have been given to someone with medical background.
But Malacañang said the military background of Galvez will be useful in his new role as the importation, storage and distribution of vaccines would be more of a logistical challenge.
Galvez said the government is targeting to procure an initial 24 million vaccines, with poor communities and the vulnerable sectors taking the first shots.
Duterte earlier said he is pinning his hopes on vaccines being developed by Chinese and Russian drugmakers and wants state security forces to get vaccinated first.
The Philippines has total confirmed cases of 388,137, with 349,091 recoveries and 7,367 deaths. — Gaea Katreena Cabico