MANILA, Philippines — The government wants the 525,200 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from AztraZeneca allocated to health care workers for their first of two jabs, as the delivery of the second batch of the vaccines is already assured.
“We can use all of the 525,000 AstraZeneca vaccines as first dose so we give more, we provide partial protection to a lot more health care workers,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday at a meeting with President Duterte in Malacañang.
The government hopes to inoculate 3.2 million medical frontline workers this month until early April.
Duterte earlier expressed concern that it might take some time for the second tranche of the AstraZeneca vaccines to arrive.
“The problem is those who got injected already need a second dose. The second dose is critical here,” Duterte said.
Duque and National Task Force against COVID-19 chief Carlito Galvez Jr. have assured the President that the next batch of the AstraZeneca vaccines would be arriving by the end of the month or in the first week of April or in time for the required second jab which should come 12 weeks or three months after the first.
According to Galvez, the 979,200 vials of AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX Facility are expected to arrive on March 22 or in early April at the latest.
Galvez, who had just arrived from India after arranging the procurement of 30 million Novavax vaccines, reported exploratory talks between the Philippines and India to facilitate supply of vaccines through the latter’s program dubbed as “Bridging the Valley of Death.”
At yesterday’s press briefing, Galvez reported that a total of 1,125,600 vaccines have been deployed nationwide, citing information from the health department.
As of 11 a.m. on Monday, Galvez said 216,794 medical frontliners have received their jabs.
“We are following a schedule for the groups that will have to get vaccinated starting on our health care workers, which is why this is well-calibrated and done by batches and deliberate,” he said.
$1.2 billion loans
The Department of Finance (DOF) said $1.2 billion in fresh loans from multilateral development banks have effectively locked in the financing needed for the vaccination of 70 million Filipinos.
The World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIB) provided the loans.
“The prompt and substantial financing extended by our multilateral partners is crucial to the accomplishment of the Duterte administration’s target to inoculate at least 70 million Filipinos – or 100 percent of our adult population – hopefully within this year, so that we can safely open wide our economy and return it to its pre-pandemic path of high and inclusive growth,” said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III in a statement.
“We thank our multilateral development partners – the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank – for stepping up their support for the Philippines’ COVID-19 response measures, particularly our ongoing efforts to secure these life-saving doses for our people and fast-track our vaccination rollout,” he said.
He noted, however, that even if the government has secured sufficient funds for vaccine procurement, the pace of the rollout would still depend on how fast suppliers can deliver the doses.
On March 12, the World Bank announced the approval of $500 million in additional funding for the purchase COVID-19 vaccines and strengthening the country’s health system.
The new loan will supplement the Philippines’ ongoing COVID-19 Emergency Response Project, to which the bank earlier extended a $100-million loan.
On the same day, ADB announced that the Philippines would be the first recipient of financing support under its Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX) with the approval of a $400-million loan.
According to the ADB, its loan, along with the co-financing extended by the AIIB, will fund the procurement of up to 110 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for as many as 50 million Filipinos. Under the HEAL 2 loan agreement, ADB will pay vaccine suppliers directly.
This financing will also follow global best practices on safeguards measures, including waste management of medical supplies.
On top of the new HEAL 2 loan, the ADB had earlier provided a total of $1.74 billion in loans and grants to the Philippines to support its COVID-19 response measures.
The Philippines has also contributed $84 million to the COVAX Facility to secure 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Dominguez said that besides a multilateral approach, the government is also pursuing partnerships with the private sector and with the local government units for vaccine acquisition.
He said the Philippines is negotiating for the acquisition of vaccines for 92 million individuals, or more than the country’s adult population, to account for any possible delay in deliveries or slippages.– Czeriza Valencia