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The private sector will sign today, November 27, an agreement with the government to buy up to 3 million doses of the vaccine against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) developed by the British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
The Presidential Advisor for Entrepreneurship and founder of Go Negosyo, José María “Joey” Concepción 3º, will sign the agreement on behalf of the private sector.
Concepción said the P600 million deal will help more than 1 million Filipinos.
“We are targeting 2.5 million to 3 million doses that will help 1.5 million people at the upper end of the range, as the vaccine requires two doses. We want to make sure that the Philippines is not left behind when vaccines come out in 2021, ”Concepción said.
The doses will be donated to the Department of Health (DoH), which will handle their distribution.
Concepción said that half of the donations will be reserved for government leaders and the other half for regular and contract employees of private companies.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the country’s vaccine czar, is leading the negotiations for the procurement of vaccines.
Concepción said that in addition to the 3 million doses, Go Negosyo will buy 70,000 doses for micro, small and medium-sized companies, which will cover 35,000 people.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to cost around P500 for two doses, cheaper than regular testing methods, Concepción said.
In addition to Go Negosyo, the other private donors are International Container Terminal Services Inc., BDO Unibank, First Philippine Holdings Corp., LT Group, Inc., San Miguel Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Universal Leaf Philippines Inc., LBC Express Holdings Inc., Udenna Corp., GT Capital Holdings Inc., Wilcon Depot Inc., Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc., Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Golden ABC Inc, Mercury Drug Corp., Federation of Philippine Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Yazaki -Torres Manufacturing Inc., Bounty Fresh Food Inc. and RFM, Concepcion Industries.
Completing the list of donors: Jollibee Foods Corp., Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce of the Philippines Inc., Philippine Transmarine Carriers Inc., Magsaysay Maritime Corp., Nova Group, Alliance Global Inc., JG Summit Holdings Inc., Philippine Franchise Association , Double Dragon / MerryMart, Filinvest Development Corp., Lotis Shoppe, Century Properties Group, Bench, CDO, Mercedes-Benz Philippines, Rustans, Megaworld, and SeaOil Philippines.
AstraZeneca recently announced that its vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, was 70 percent effective in pivotal trials.
The vaccine showed up to 90 percent efficacy on a dosing regimen, when it was administered to 2,741 people as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least a month later.
The vaccine can be stored, transported and handled under normal refrigeration conditions without the need for extreme cold storage, which is not yet available in the Philippines.
Once the deal is done, the British government will send military personnel and logistics personnel to help local health officials distribute the drugs by the second quarter of 2021, Galvez said.
“It will take six to seven months to produce ‘yung ating inorder,” Galvez said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
If the contract is signed in November or December, delivery of the vaccine can begin in June or July at the latest, he said.
The race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine is heating up as companies begin publishing the results of their trials.
In the Philippines, a vaccine must first be approved by the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration before it can be marketed.
In addition to AstraZeneca, the government is in talks with China-based Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and US vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
Gálvez previously said that the country’s Covid-19 immunization program was expected to run for three to five years, with some 20 to 30 million Filipinos vaccinated per year.
The government ultimately hopes to immunize between 60 and 65 percent of the population to achieve so-called “herd immunity.”
The World Health Organization defines herd immunity as a concept in which “a population can protect itself from a certain virus if a vaccination threshold is reached”.
Last week, President Rodrigo Duterte approved advancing payments to private developers to speed up the vaccine procurement process.
On Thursday, the country registered 1,392 new cases of Covid-19 for a total of 424,297.
Recoveries were 387,266 and the death toll at 8,242.
Three hospitals in the country have also started clinical trials of the influenza drug Avigan (favipiravir) to determine if it will help in the therapy of mild or moderate cases of Covid-19.
Undersecretary of Health María Rosario Vergeire said the trials began on November 20 with three patients from the Philippine General Hospital, three from the José N. Rodríguez Memorial Hospital and two from the Quirino Memorial Medical Center.
Vergeire said the changes to the clinical trial protocol had been approved by the Joint Ethics Board, paving the way for more volunteers and less stringent criteria for inclusion in the trial.
With the new protocol, the Department of Health hopes that the required number of volunteers for the trial will be reached, which is 144.
Avigan, developed by Japanese conglomerate Fujifilm, has drawn interest from many countries for its potential to prevent the virus from replicating.
The Philippine National Police is preparing to assist in the immunization effort once the distribution of a vaccine is approved, said PNP Chief General Debold Sinas.
Sinas also said that he was happy that the police and the military have priority in the Covid-19 immunization program.
He said President Duterte understands the risk facing leaders, particularly the police and military.
With reports from CATHERINE S. VALENTE, RED MENDOZA and DARWIN PESCO
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