[ad_1]
Last week’s announcement by two US pharmaceutical companies that their vaccine candidates are more than 90 percent effective against Covid-19 has given us hope that the pandemic will be contained in the coming months. The positive report reinforces the nation’s confidence to fully recharge the economy soon.
Global markets welcomed the news as the development is sure to revive consumer confidence amid the lingering threat of the virus. However, this should not make us complacent until we have vaccines for the entire population in our hands. We have yet to observe social distancing during the Christmas season and overcome the gigantic logistical challenge of acquiring and distributing vaccines once they are available.
To achieve herd immunity, we may need to vaccinate between 60 and 80 percent of the population, according to public health experts. While this could be possible next year, the recent announcement by Pfizer and Moderna about the success of their clinical trials has already raised consumer confidence around the world.
The American biotech firm Moderna said its vaccine candidate was found to be 94.5 percent effective in a trial involving more than 30,000 participants. The company plans to have 20 million doses available in the US by December 2020, initially targeting healthcare workers and vulnerable populations.
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech announced that their two-dose coronavirus vaccine was 95 percent effective and had no serious side effects among older adults based on clinical trials administered to approximately 44,000 volunteers. The efficacy of the vaccine was found to be consistent across all ages, races, and ethnicities.
Pfizer said that once approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, it could produce 50 million doses this year and 1.3 billion by 2021.
We hope that the Philippines will be one of the first countries to receive vaccines from the US, based on early negotiations conducted by our government with US officials. We must prepare for the handling and distribution of the new class of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, which require cooler storage.
Aside from American vaccines, other candidates show promising results. Russian developers of the Sputnik V vaccine said it was also found to be 92 percent effective in preventing Covid-19. The Gamaleya National Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow and the Russian Direct Investment Fund reached the conclusion based on an interim analysis that included some 16,000 volunteers.
Other companies that reported impressive progress were Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax.
The Philippine government has ensured that the public will receive an allocation from Pfizer and Moderna. “We have a strong commitment from the United States that we will have access to Covid vaccines that can be developed in the United States,” said presidential spokesman Harry Roque. Secretary Roque made the guarantee based on the information transmitted by the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, to the Secretary of Foreign Relations, Teodoro Locsin Jr.
China, according to Mr. Roque, made the same commitment to supply future Covid-19 vaccines to the Philippines. Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the top implementer of the National Covid-19 Policy, who was also appointed as a Vaccine Czar by President Duterte, said the Philippines is actually considering 17 countries as potential sources of vaccines.
The government plans to procure 30 million to 50 million doses of vaccines by 2021, with priority on doctors and other front-line healthcare providers, vulnerable sectors, marginalized people, and uniformed and other military personnel.
At this point, the Asian Development Bank offers technical assistance for the distribution of vaccines. The Manila-based multilateral lender has committed to provide $ 20.3 million in technical assistance to help developing members gain access to vaccines and establish systems that allow equitable and efficient distribution of vaccines.
We may also need to partner with our neighbors for efficient vaccine distribution. The pandemic is a global problem that requires international cooperation, especially in the areas of manufacturing, shipping, and last-mile delivery. Due to the extremely cold temperature required for storage, it can be faster and more efficient to produce vaccines in regional centers, rather than just one global site. Pfizer, for example, has a facility in the Philippines.
Now that Covid-19 vaccines are a reality, rather than just a dream, we can consider further relaxing the quarantine restrictions that have chained our economy’s growth for the past two quarters. We must allow companies to fully resume operations, with the necessary health protocols still in place, of course.
Moody’s Analytics in a recent report noted that the economic recovery in the Asia-Pacific region would not be completely complete until international travel and tourism flourishes again and until a widespread rebound in the global economy expands the range of global trade to include more consumer goods like automobiles and raw materials like crude oil and petrochemicals.
I particularly welcome the recent signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, the world’s largest free trade agreement, which is expected to boost our exports and fuel our recovery. Under the agreement, the parties will have access to a large market and important sources of raw materials for production.
RCEP, which includes 10 Southeast Asian economies along with China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia, is expected to account for 27.8 percent of global trade valued at $ 10.5 trillion. RCEP members accounted for 60.6 percent of the Philippines’ total merchandise trade and 11.4 percent of incoming foreign direct investment in 2019.
The mega trade deal is something we can look forward to for years to come as we navigate the new environment created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Amid the success of the Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials, I am more optimistic than six months ago because there is now strong evidence that help is on the way.
For comments, email [email protected] or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.
