NTF asks vaccine makers for faster, larger shipments

MANILA, Philippines — The government’s vaccine negotiating panel is asking manufacturers to speed up deliveries and increase to 25 million doses the monthly volume of shipments to the Philippines as the country races against the rapid spread of COVID-19 infections.

National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the panel was able to negotiate a monthly delivery of 22 million doses from manufacturers and that additional vaccine shipments are to be confirmed in the coming days.

Galvez said that in the next months, the vaccine negotiating team would be working on increasing the country’s monthly vaccine supply deliveries to between 25 million and 30 million doses.

As of Friday, only more than 8.2 million doses have been delivered to the Philippines for this month’s scheduled shipments – composed of donations from COVAX Facility, the United States and other countries, as well as government and private sector-procured vaccines.

“We were able to administer 3.5 million doses per week and this already surpassed our expectation of just three million doses in a week,” he said. “That’s why if the other vaccines arrive and we are able to receive 25 to 30 million doses, we are confident that we can reach 750,000 to even one million jabs per day.”

The vaccine czar said he remains optimistic that some areas in the country would have a better Christmas this year with many local government units – especially in Metro Manila – ramping up vaccinations.

Some cities are expected to achieve herd immunity or the vaccination of about 70 percent of their total population as early as September, he added.

MM targets 4 million jabs in August

The government is targeting four million doses to be administered before the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila lapses.

To reach this, more than 250,000 doses need to be administered daily in the region, which Galvez said could be reached in the coming days since the 220,000 mark had already been breached.

The NTF has deployed 3.5 million doses to Metro Manila this August and plans to increase the deliveries to six million to fully vaccinate 50 percent of the region’s residents as LGUs ramped up vaccinations since the start of the ECQ.

More than 9.6 million of the region’s residents are eligible for vaccination. Currently, 41 percent of them are fully vaccinated, while 62 percent have received their first dose.

“The 50 percent of NCR’s population is a very significant threshold because if we vaccinate them, there’s a tendency for cases to plateau or decrease,” Galvez said.

Vaccine hopping

Meanwhile, the NTF denounced vaccine hoppers or those already fully vaccinated in one city but also registered in another area to receive a third dose as a booster shot.

“Vaccine hopping is illegal and vaccine hoppers are immoral. All vaccines are considered ‘gold’ and this shouldn’t be wasted because we want all Filipinos to get vaccinated,” Galvez said.

“Our citizens from far-flung areas have not yet gotten their first dose and yet we have vaccine hoppers who already have third dose or booster shots.”

He stressed the need to prioritize areas and people who have yet to receive their first dose.

As for vaccine hoppers, Galvez said they are already being investigated. He warned that mega vaccination sites such as the recently opened facilities at Nayong Pilipino, which accommodates individuals from any city or province, cannot be used by vaccine hoppers.

For its part, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said it supports the call for LGUs to pass ordinances penalizing fully vaccinated individuals obtaining booster shots like Quezon City.

“Let’s not steal from our other citizens who need protection,” Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP chief, said yesterday.

Two persons in Quezon City who were caught receiving a third dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 were charged with violating a city ordinance on vaccination fraud which was passed last month.

More Moderna

Another 469,200 doses of the Moderna vaccine arrived in the country yesterday afternoon.

It was the fifth shipment of the United States-made vaccine to arrive in the country and was sourced from the COVAX Facility in Belgium.

Galvez said the country is expecting more or less five million vaccine doses to come this week.

He also reported that as of yesterday, the country has administered about seven million doses since the start of August. “We are estimating that we can achieve our objective of vaccinating 15 million Filipinos this month,” he added.

As in all shipments, Mimel Talusan, Bureau of Customs district collector at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, said the bureau remains steadfast in its mandate to ensure the speedy and unhampered processing of vaccine shipments.

The latest Moderna shipment was immediately loaded in reefer vans and transported to PharmaServ Express cold storage in Marikina City under escort by the Customs-NAIA, COVAX Task Force and other enforcement agencies. – Rudy Santos