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Senator Panfilo Lacson urged the government to be transparent about the true situation regarding COVID-19 vaccine purchases after supplies arrived in small drips despite a total of around P126.75 billion, mostly from foreign loans, reserved for acquisition.
The loans have been granted since last year by the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
“I wish they were sincere, they started from the basics by telling the truth. As long as the concerned authorities do not recognize the problem, we will not be able to find a solution, “said Lacson.
In a series of tweets, the senator asked the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to give Filipinos a “truth” about the vaccine situation and to be decisive.
Citing records from the Department of Finance (DOF), Lacson said that the Philippine government had obtained loans from the WB, ADB and AIIB in six tranches: $ 100 million on April 20, 2020; $ 500 million on May 28, 2020; $ 600 million on December 16, 2020; and $ 500 million, $ 400 million and $ 300 million separately in March.
The loans are in addition to the P10 billion allocated by Congress last year for the purchase of vaccines under the Bayanihan Recover As One Act, Lacson said.
He said the country’s finance team had the foresight to book the loans ahead of the rush, but the “other team” in the health management sector, specifically those tasked with procuring vaccines, didn’t seem to do their part enough. early.
‘The other team didn’t act early’
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque declined to comment on Lacson’s statement, saying the IATF will meet later Thursday night and will address the issue in a briefing on Friday.
“The Secretary of Finance, Carlos Domínguez III, had repeatedly said that we have sufficient funds and the DOF should be congratulated for having the foresight to take the initiative to negotiate loans well in advance. However, no matter how efficient the DOF team is, why didn’t the other team act early? Lacson said.
He asked why the purchased vaccines had not arrived, noting that the first batches of COVID-19 injections were donations from the international vaccine group, Covax, and the Chinese government.
The Philippines has so far received 600,000 doses of CoronaVac manufactured by Sinovac Biotech of China and 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca from Covax facilities.
“There should be no problem since we have the money to spend, which was the loans,” he said.
He dismissed explanations from IATF officials about the reasons for the delay, saying they were trying to flatter the public with claims of a faster rate of vaccination.
“They continue to insist more on speculation than on the real thing,” he said, citing the IATF’s pronouncement that the government will be able to vaccinate 450,000 people a day starting in April.
But at the rate that the vaccine’s deployment is progressing, which is 4,000 injections a day, the Philippines will achieve herd immunity only in 2033, Lacson said.
“It would be better if our authorities refrained from making such statements because it is the credibility of the government that suffers, and people will doubt them even more because they know when they are taking them,” he said.
Partners, not competitors
The government’s vaccine supply also suffered from “overregulation,” Lacson said, saying the private sector seemed discouraged from offering to donate half of their vaccine purchases if they were allowed to deal directly with manufacturers.
He reiterated his call to the government to treat the private sector “as partners and not as competitors” in the acquisition of vaccines.
Lacson also asked if the government was doing “a scientific study or analysis” of the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
“They should at least be able to give an explanation to the public so that we can also take the necessary precautions,” he said. —WITH REPORT BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA
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