COVAX bivalent donation hits snag

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) has appealed to the COVAX Facility to give the Philippines enough time to enter into a contract regarding the bivalent COVID vaccine donation to the country.

DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that health officials had a meeting with COVAX and GAVI (Alliance), wherein the country expressed interest to receive the bivalent vaccines.

Vergeire expressed hope that COVAX could give the country time to come up with legal remedies so the DOH could enter into specific contracts required by the COVAX Facility.

Earlier, the DOH said the arrival of the COVID-19 bivalent vaccines in the country would be delayed.

Vergeire said the delay was due to the non-extension of the declaration of a state of calamity by President Marcos beyond 2022.

She said that when a state of calamity is lifted, there are accompanying conditions, such as immunity from liability and indemnification clauses, which are required by vaccine manufacturers.

Vergeire said the DOH has coordinated with the Office of the President through the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General regarding the possibility of receiving these donated bivalent jabs.

“We had several meetings this past week so that we can find that point, that option because we don’t have a basis to declare immunity from liability and indemnification,” said Vergeire.

Earlier, reports said the country is expecting to receive the first batch of bivalent COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX by end of this month.

Priority groups A1 or health care workers and A2 or senior citizens were set to receive at least one million doses of the donated bivalent vaccines.

Meanwhile, to address a large number of Filipinos who have not received anti-COVID shots, the DOH will intensify its information drive regarding the importance of getting vaccinated.

Vergeire said the DOH would continue to convince the public to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

“We will continue to enhance our information drive, especially in the regions, because we want to increase the vaccine uptake in the country,” Vergeire at a press briefing yesterday.

“Everyday, we are reminding the public that the vaccine is the most effective protection against COVID,” she said.

Vergeire gave assurance that the vaccines are accessible to anyone who wants to receive it.

“We have integrated our COVID-19 vaccination into our regular health services. In every health center, you can access the COVID vaccine,” she said, adding there is no need to schedule the vaccination since health centers were designated as vaccination sites.

The DOH gave the assurance after a survey conducted in December by the Social Weather Stations showed that 69 percent of the estimated 9.5 million unvaccinated Filipinos still refuse to get vaccinated.

Data from the DOH showed that as of March 16, more than 78.4 million Filipinos have been fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, while more than 23.8 million fully vaccinated people have received their first booster shots.

Still manageable

Filipinos have been advised not to worry about the slight increase in COVID cases as hospital admissions remain manageable.

Vergeire said that additional cases are expected since the virus is still very much around.

“The increase and decrease in the cases are expected. The virus is still in the country, and remains to be with us,” she said, adding people shouldn’t be afraid or alarmed, but instead remain aware and vigilant.

As long as the number of severe and critical cases, deaths and the health care utilization rates remain low, there is nothing to worry about the uptick in the infection, she said.

“Based on our monitoring, while the cases are going up, our hospital admissions are all manageable, while severe and critical and deaths are kept at a minimum,” Vergeire said.

Latest data on the COVID-19 trend revealed that Mindanao and the National Capital Region are showing continued incremental increase in the cases, while the rest of the country exhibited plateauing trend.

The DOH noted that severe and critical cases are plateauing nationwide, while COVID admissions have been plateauing since early February.

The latest weekly COVID-19 case bulletin also showed that the country has an average of 167 cases daily for the period March 13 to 19.

The figure is 19 percent higher than the 140 cases reported from March 6 to 12.