At the height of the pandemic when governments were scrambling to obtain vaccines against COVID-19, the private sector in the Philippines pitched in and procured substantial volumes of the life-saving jabs, not only for their employees but also for sharing with the government under a tripartite arrangement dubbed A Dose of Hope.
With the government ramping up its vaccine procurement under the global COVAX facility, the private sector has been left with excess vaccines. These are expiring by the end of the month, according to former presidential adviser on entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion.
The excess include 887,360 doses of Moderna vaccines, procured for $27 each, and 628,680 Astra Zeneca jabs costing at least $5 each. The private sector wants to use the excess jabs for the second boosters of employees. But with time running out, the Health Technology Assessment Council has yet to act on the private sector’s request, prompting Concepcion to suggest reforms in the HTAC.
Members of the government’s Vaccine Expert Panel have recommended the expansion of the second booster program to ages 50 to 59, but the Food and Drug Administration has yet to give its nod. In the United States, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been approved as second boosters for ages 50 and older, at least four months after the first booster.
Amid a renewed increase in COVID cases driven by highly contagious Omicron subvariants, health officials have expressed concern over a low uptake of even the first booster, with only about 15.6 million administered as of July 17, out of nearly 50 million due for the shots. The government reportedly aims to administer the first booster to 23 million people by the 100th day of the Marcos administration.
Because of financial difficulties, private enterprises have been cool to proposals for no-booster, no-entry policies. But some establishments have extended discounts and other enticements for those who have received boosters. Local government units can also take a more pro-active role in encouraging booster uptake. La Carlota in Negros Occidental, for example, has started requiring booster shots for those doing business at city hall.
The national government, for its part, should not allow the vaccines procured by the private sector to end up in the garbage bin. It would be a tragic waste if over 1.5 million Moderna and AstraZeneca jabs are allowed to expire in two weeks.