India hopes for faster talks with Philippines on vaccine

MANILA, Philippines — Indian Ambassador Shambhu Kumaran hopes for faster discussions with the Philippine government for the procurement of the COVID-19 jab Covaxin as more countries have signed supply agreements with Indian vaccine maker Bharat Biotech.

Bharat has applied for emergency use authorization in the Philippines for Covaxin.

“We are expecting that this authorization would happen very quickly. In parallel, we are also hoping that discussions can take place on potential supply agreements,” Kumaran said in an interview with “The Chiefs” aired on One News/TV5 last Tuesday night.

He added that India has been in contact with the Philippine government since January.

The number of doses Bharat Biotech can provide the Philippines depends on when the contracts are concluded. But the ambassador is optimistic that up to eight million doses can be supplied to the Philippines.

“I believe we may be slightly delayed on that score already, that’s why I’m hoping that these discussions can take place quickly because just about 10 days ago, Bharat just closed the 20 million doses deal with Brazil, and there are other countries that have signed term sheets,” he said.

“Of course, if you work on an earlier agreement, we can have some doses coming in the second quarter itself,” he added.

Although companies have expressed desire to avail of the indemnity law, “it is not something that our companies can initially put forward as a requirement,” according to Kumaran.

“We are very confident about Indian pharma. We are the largest suppler of medicines to the Philippines already,” he said.

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion has coordinated for possible procurement by the private sector on a tripartite basis.

“Our own preference would have been to have rather than sequential discussions, parallel discussions on commercial arrangements even as the scientific process of the regulatory approval is being carried out. Perhaps we could have saved some time,” Kumaran said.

The vaccine, currently being used in India’s extensive vaccination program, has an efficacy of 81 percent in its phase 3 trial.

“As you know, we (have) already crossed the whole 40 million vaccination with a target of about 300 million by August,” the envoy said.