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The representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Philippines, Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, assured on Tuesday that the estimated doses of 5.5 million to 9.2 million of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, expected for the second quarter of this year at the Covax facility, “not at risk” given that “Philippines met all requirements for AstraZeneca”
“What we are seeing now is accelerating the delivery of those AstraZeneca vaccines [to the Philippines]Abeyasinghe said during the Department of Health’s (DOH) Kapihan online session.
Abeyasinghe also said they hope they will hear from AstraZeneca before the end of this week about when they will deliver the necessary vaccines to the Philippines.
He said the AstraZeneca has three facilities: Europe, India and South Korea. The facility in South Korea, he said, is “exclusively manufacturing” for the Covax facility.
The WHO official also expressed optimism that the country could achieve its goal of vaccinating 20 percent of the population before the end of this year.
He cited two reasons behind the equity and access issues in vaccine distribution.
Abeyasinghe said that, firstly, “approximately 80 percent of world vaccine production is currently being absorbed by high-income countries; and the second problem is that vaccination programs [have] it has yet to start in many low- and middle-income countries. “
“Related to that, too, is the limited manufacturing capacity that manufacturers have,” he said, adding that they expect manufacturers to produce more vaccines.
He said that some manufacturers’ production was “not as high” as expected, citing the problem of “biological processes” that manufacturers encounter.
“All of this has contributed to the current situation where we are seeing concerns about equitable access to vaccines,” he said.
He added that these issues were even raised by WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as WHO remains concerned about the lack of vaccines for the population at risk, such as healthcare workers, and those who are vulnerable. in low-income countries.
