Concepcion: Losses from expired vaccines hit P5.1 billion

MANILA, Philippines — As the end of the month approaches, the private sector stressed that losses from expired vaccines it purchased have reached P5.1 billion, as it emphasized that it has no more supply of two brands.

In a statement yesterday, Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion said the final tally of expired COVID-19 vaccines in private sector warehouses totaled 4.25 million.

He added that the final batch of AstraZeneca vaccines would expire on July 31, while the last of the Moderna vaccines expired yesterday.

“This means that the country has only Pfizer vaccines left for first and second boosters,” Concepcion said.

He added that of the total expired vaccines, 3.629 million are Moderna vaccines.

Concepcion explained that under the tripartite agreement that facilitated the purchase of these vaccines, the government had in its possession half of all the vaccines procured by the private sector.

“These Moderna vaccines have the same expiry date, so whatever expired in the private sector warehouses also expired in the public sector,” he said.

The Go Negosyo founder has been leading the private sector appeals to the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) since April to allow second booster vaccinations.

“The lack of urgency on the part of the HTAC and the DOH (Department of Health) at which the vaccination advisories, policies and implementation progressed caused the bulk disposal of these hard-earned COVID-19 vaccines,” he said.

The HTAC advises the DOH on health-related interventions to be funded by the government.

“We first sounded the alarm about low booster uptake in March, and about the expiring vaccines in early April. This could have easily been prevented had the HTAC simply listened and learned from the guidance of the CDC back in March when it recommended additional boosters for those as young as 50 years old,” he said.

He emphasized that the private sector has repeatedly asked that it be allowed to administer second boosters, using the vaccines it purchased.

“We were willing to get vaccinated. There was not even a need for a vaccine mandate,” Concepcion said.

“The expiry dates of these vaccines have already been extended and there is nothing more that can be done but to accept this preventable loss,” he added.

Nevertheless, Concepcion expressed optimism that the country’s pandemic response is now becoming more responsive, given the directives coming from President Marcos.

Concepcion also thanked the Vaccine Expert Panel of the Technical Working Group for COVID-19 Vaccines of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the National Immunization Technology Advisory Group for helping the private sector in pushing for more booster vaccinations.

“I am hopeful that with President Marcos now making health and the economy among the priority measures of his government, we will see more positive developments in this area,” he said.

Concepcion and the private sector Advisory Council of Experts (ACE) have other proposals aimed at helping the government achieve its vaccination goal while keeping the economy open.

The ACE has proposed a traffic light system that uses only two metrics – average daily attack rate and average daily attack rate – to replace the current alert level system.

Concepcion expressed belief that the proposal put forward by the ACE is aligned with the priority measures announced by Marcos during his first State of the Nation Address last Monday, namely the creation of the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control, which will be under the DOH, and the Virology institute of the Philippines, which will be under the DOST.

“This all bodes well for our future pandemic response. If we learn from our experiences with this, have a little more foresight, we will be able to better handle future public health emergencies moving forward,” he said.

2nd booster

Meanwhile, individuals who are 50 years old and above as well as other adults with comorbidities are now allowed to get second booster shots against COVID-19.

DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire on Tuesday announced the expansion of the COVID-19 second booster immunization program beyond senior citizens and health care workers.

“As vaccine immunity wanes over time, we are dedicated to helping our people remain protected against COVID-19,” Vergeire said in a statement.

“We are making it easier for as many of our people to avail themselves of the primary series and boosters, including second boosters,” she added.

The Food and Drug Administration previously amended the respective emergency use authorization of Pfizer and Moderna to allow their use as second boosters to other eligible population.  – Mayen Jaymalin, Janvic Mateo