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Despite lobbying to allow the private sector to directly import COVID-19 vaccines, President Duterte’s chief economic officer has maintained the responsibility of the national government to lead procurement under the law covering mass vaccination.
Finance Secretary Carlos Domínguez III pointed out on Friday two reasons why the private sector could not buy vaccines directly, one of which was that “pharmaceutical companies insist that the government provide compensation.”
Given that the national government assumed the compensation, its participation is necessary in private sector purchases, Domínguez said.
Domínguez added that Section 5 of the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021 signed by President Duterte last month stated that “private entities can acquire COVID-19 vaccines only in cooperation with the DOH (Department of Health) and the NTF (National Working Group) Against COVID-19) through a multi-party agreement, which will include DOH and the corresponding supplier of the COVID-19 vaccine ”.
Slower pace
Last week, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) urged the Duterte administration to allow direct importation without these conditions and restrictions provided by law.
The PCCI was concerned about the slow national vaccination program amid a recent surge in COVID-19 infections.
Dominguez admitted that the increase in cases certainly didn’t help, as the economic team aimed to return to gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.5 to 7.5 percent this year.
Last year, prolonged quarantine restrictions to contain the disease led the Philippines into its worst post-war recession, as GDP fell by a record 9.5 percent. Approximately 4.5 million Filipinos were unemployed in 2020 due to the closure of thousands of businesses.
Economic managers had been pushing for a gradual relaxation of the quarantine to reopen the economy and encourage private consumption, which accounted for up to 75 percent of GDP before the pandemic.
When it comes to vaccine insurance, state-owned Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will cover potential adverse reactions or side effects, insurance industry leaders said.
Insurance coverage
“There is no formal private insurance supplementation agreement with PhilHealth on this particular Covid-19 Adverse Event Compensation Benefit After Immunization (AEFI) announced by the government,” said the President of the Life Insurance Association from the Philippines, Benedict Sison.
“However, due to the nature of the life and health insurance products provided by the insurance industry, any medical condition that arises as an AEFI, whether as a direct consequence of such vaccination or not, is a contingent event that these products are inherently covered as part of their general benefit characteristics, provided that said resulting condition does not fall within any of the exclusions specified in the plan, ”added Sison.
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