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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 28) – The American biopharmaceutical company Moderna is accelerating its shipment of COVID-19 vaccine doses to the Philippines, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said Sunday.
“Modern on board and speeding up a large shipment. Everything is returning to its place”, he tweeted, citing information from the Philippine ambassador to the United States, José Manuel “Babe” Romualdez. However, the government has not announced whether the Philippines has already sealed the deal with Moderna.
Locsin’s announcement comes hours after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened the United States that his administration would go ahead with repealing the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) if his government fails to produce at least 20 million vaccines for the Philippines. On December 26, the president said he wants US troops to get off Philippine soil if they cannot provide the vaccine.
Apart from Moderna, Romualdez and Locsin are working to secure vaccine doses from the US firm Arcturus. The envoy said the two companies have already pledged to supply 4 to 25 million of their respective vaccines as of the third quarter of 2021.
Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government hopes to secure doses of the COVID-19 vaccine primarily from pharmaceutical developers in Western countries by 2021, following criticism that the Philippines is only focusing on obtaining vaccines. of Sinovac Biotech from China. The vaccine developed in China only received 50% vaccine efficacy, the minimum requirement set by the World Health Organization. The full results of the trial have yet to be released amid questions about transparency.
Gálvez, on December 26, highlighted that the country is also securing agreements with the American Johnson & Johnson; The British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca, the Gamaleya Institute of Russia and Novavax of India. If these agreements are honored, including the Moderna agreement, the country will have around 80 million doses, he said. According to Gálvez, AstraZeneca, which previously offered 6.2 million doses, will likely be the first to secure the deal. This will be followed by Novavax, Pfizer and then Johnson & Johnson.
Gálvez added that there are also ongoing talks with Russia’s Gamaleya and Sinovac.
Locsin said the large number of ongoing vaccine conversations will ensure that the public can choose their preferred protection.
“We will have a full range of vaccines, from the least effective to the most available for everyone to choose from,” he said.
In the proposed 2021 budget, $ 72.5 billion will be used to insure coronavirus vaccines, of which $ 70 billion will be backed by loans or by raising excess revenue.
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