Vaccine loans to be drawn only when pharmas deliver

MANILA, Philippines — Loans from multilateral banks meant for the purchase of vaccines for COVID-19 would only be drawn when pharmaceutical companies are ready to deliver orders, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said yesterday.

At a meeting with President Duterte and other members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Monday night, Dominguez reiterated that the government’s budget for the procurement of vaccines as well as for logistics remains unchanged at P82.5 billion.

The amount comprises P58.4 billion ($1.2 billion) from multilateral banks Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); P2.5-billion allocation for the Department of Health under the 2021 national budget; P10 billion allocated for COVID-19 vaccine financing under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act and the P11.6 billion sourced from savings and other official development assistance.

Dominguez made the clarification apparently in response to a social media post by Sen.Panfilo Lacson stating that the government’s accumulated loans, along with DOH appropriations, now supposedly amount to P126.75 billion and yet vaccine deliveries are still insufficient.

The finance chief said these funds, plus the financing from the private sector and local government units, would be sufficient to vaccinate 70 million Filipinos, or 100 percent of the adult population.

On advice of the DOH, the remaining 40 million Filipinos aged 18 years and below won’t be covered by the vaccination program.

Dominguez stressed that the funds representing loans from multilateral institutions are not in the form of cash.

The loan accords with the ADB and the World Bank were signed this month, while the agreement with AIIB is still for signing.

Under the terms of the loan agreement, the funds won’t be coursed through the Philippine government as the multilateral institutions would directly pay the suppliers of the vaccines and such purchases would have to pass stringent criteria.

Duterte said at the meeting that such arrangement with multilateral banks should dispel insinuations of corruption in the government’s vaccine procurement process.

Dominguez said this arrangement also spares the government from having to pay interest while the funds have yet to be used.

Also at the meeting, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said 140.5 million doses from five vaccine manufacturers are expected to arrive in the country on a staggered basis between April and December. –  Pia Lee-Brago

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