Philippine gov’t, private firms to sign deal for 2M doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government and private firms will be signing an agreement with British drugmaker AstraZeneca for two million doses of its coronavirus vaccine, the country’s vaccine czar announced Thursday.
Carlito Galvez, a former general who also heads the task force against the coronavirus, told a news briefing that the deal will be signed Friday.
Details from Galvez on the tripartite deal were scant, but Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said in a statement that the private sector will be donating to the government 2.5 million to 3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, costing somewhere between P600 million and P700 million.
The following firms would be donating AstraZeneca vaccine doses to the government, according to Concepcion:
- International Container Terminal Services, Inc.
- BDO Unibank
- First Philippine Holdings Corporation
- Go Negosyo
- LT Group, Inc.
- San Miguel Corporation
- Metro Pacific Investments Corporation
- Universal Leaf Philippines Inc.
- LBC Express Holdings Inc.
- Udenna Corp.
- GT Capital Holdings Inc.
- Wilcon Depot Inc.
- Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc.
- Aboitiz Equity Ventures
- Golden ABC Inc.
- Mercury Drug Corp.
- Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry
- Yazaki-Torres Manufacturing Inc.
- Bounty Fresh Food Inc.
- RFM Corp.
- Concepcion Industries
- Jollibee Foods Corp.
- Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce Phils. Inc.
- Philippine Transmarine Carriers, Inc.
- Magsaysay Maritime Corp.
- Nova Group
- Alliance Global, Inc.
- JG Summit Holdings, Inc.
- Philippine Franchise Association
- Double Dragon/MerryMart
- Filinvest Development Corp.
- Lotis Shoppe
- Century Properties Group
- Bench
- CDO
- Mercedez Benz
- Rustans
- Megaworld
- SEAOIL Philippines
The government will not be spending in this first deal to procure a coronavirus vaccine, as private firms would be shouldering the cost of buying the coveted drug. Companies will be buying doses of the vaccine for their employees to be inoculated and will be donating a portion of these doses to the government.
The deal for two million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine is also separate from the 20 million doses the government eyes to buy from the drugmaker using public money. Galvez said the government targets to finalize the agreement for this within the month.
The government targets to vaccinate 60% to 75% of the population in three to five years in hopes to achieve herd immunity — the point wherein most of the population is already immune from a disease so that the whole community is protected from it.
Experts, however, are cautious in saying that vaccination alone against COVID-19 would produce herd immunity, as many factors are still unknown about the disease and its spread, and the vaccines that are supposed to protect against it.
INTERAKSYON: Can first COVID-19 vaccines bring herd immunity? Experts have doubts
AstraZeneca has said that its COVID-19 vaccine, if given in two doses, could be as much as 90% effective. It is a much more attractive option compared to other coronavirus vaccine candidates like that of Pfizer and Moderna, as it is cheaper and is easier to distribute.
The British-Swedish drugmaker has also applied to conduct clinical trials of their vaccine in the Philippines.
The government said it will be spending some P73 billion for its vaccination drive against the coronavirus, financed by multilateral and bilateral loans, and government appropriations.
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Pharma giants Sanofi and GSK said on July 29, 2020, that they have agreed to supply Britain with up to 60 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The agreement covers a vaccine candidate developed by France's Sanofi in partnership with the UK's GSK and is subject to a "final contract."
This thread collects some of the major developments in the search for a vaccine to ease the new coronavirus pandemic. (Main photo by AFP/Joel Saget)
As negotiations towards a new pandemic treaty pick up pace, observers warn of watered-down efforts to ensure equitable access to the medical products needed to battle future Covid-like threats.
Shaken by the pandemic, the World Health Organization's 194 member states are negotiating an international accord aimed at ensuring countries are better equipped to deal with the next catastrophe, or even prevent it altogether.
The process is still in the early stages, with the aim of reaching an agreement by May 2024.
But critics warn that revisions being made to the preliminary negotiating text are weakening the language -- notably in a key area aimed at preventing the rampant inequity seen in access to vaccines and other medical products during the Covid pandemic.
"I think it is a real step backwards," Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, told AFP. — AFP
Africa's first mRNA vaccine hub is ceremonially launched on Thursday to acclaim from the UN's global health chief, who hailed it as a historic shift to help poor countries gain access to life-saving jabs.
The facility was set up in the South African city of Cape Town in 2021 on the back of the success of revolutionary anti-Covid vaccines introduced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
"This precious project... will bring a paradigm shift in addressing the serious problem we faced, the equity problem, during the pandemic, so (that) it's not repeated again," World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tells a media briefing to mark the inauguration. — AFP
China has approved its first locally developed messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine against Covid-19, its manufacturer said Wednesday, months after the relaxation of strict Covid-zero regulations sparked a surge in cases.
The vaccine, developed by CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd, has been approved for "emergency use" by Beijing's health regulator, the company said in a statement.
It showed high efficacy in a trial in which it was used as a booster shot for people who have been given other types of vaccines, the company added, without offering further details. — AFP
COVID-19 vaccine maker Novavax raises doubts about its ability to continue its business, announcing plans to cut spending after struggles in rolling out its coronavirus jab.
Shares of Novavax plummeted 25 percent in extended trading, after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.
While the firm should have enough money to fund operations, the situation is "subject to significant uncertainty," it says in a statement. — AFP
The protection against Covid-19 from being previously infected lasts at least as long as that offered by vaccination, one of the largest studies conducted on the subject says.
Ten months after getting Covid, people still had an 88% lower risk of reinfection, hospitalisation and death, according to the study published in the Lancet journal.
That makes this natural immunity "at least as durable, if not more so" than two doses of Pfizer or Moderna's vaccines, the study says.
The authors nevertheless emphasized that their findings should not discourage vaccination, which remains the safest way to get immunity. — AFP
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