Vaccine Czar: PH may still withdraw from Sinovac deal

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines may still retract an agreement with a Chinese pharmaceutical company to supply the country with its coronavirus vaccine because the deal has not been closed, the top executor of the government’s response to COVID told senators at a hearing. -19 Friday.

Asked by Senator Nancy Binay and her colleagues about the administration’s apparent bias for the Sinovac Biotech vaccine despite its lower efficacy and higher cost, Carlito Galvez Jr. said the Chinese company could still be removed from the source portfolio. of government injections.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a television interview on Sunday that the government had “sealed the deal with Sinovac for 25 million [doses] with 50,000 anticipated doses in February, 950,000 in March and from 2 to 3 million in the following months until December with 25 million doses ”.

As the Senate investigation into the vaccination program resumed, Gálvez, who also heads the administration’s vaccination program, said the government had not yet paid Sinovac.

He said he only secured an anticipated market commitment from the Chinese pharmaceutical company to “secure” a certain number of doses for the country.

“So it’s not a done deal? Without backing down? Binay asked.

“No,” Galvez replied.

He explained that no supply contract had been signed as the vaccine was still subject to review by a government-led panel of experts and clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“So technically, can we choose not to buy from Sinovac?” Binay continued.

“The answer is yes,” said Vince Dizon, deputy director of implementation for the government’s response to COVID-19.

“If the panel of vaccine experts does not recommend [Sinovac], then the Philippine government will not buy or administer the vaccine, ”Dizon said.

‘Fair mix’ assured

Gálvez said that the inter-institutional COVID-19 working group “did not favor any particular brand or country.”

“While we cannot disclose the order quantity yet, we are assuring the public that we will have a fair mix of vaccine options, but we want to emphasize that … only those supported by the panel of vaccine experts will be purchased,” he said.

The government had shortlisted seven drug manufacturers whose vaccines can be purchased for mass inoculation: Sinovac from China, Gamaleya from Russia, AstraZeneca from the United Kingdom, and four pharmaceuticals from the United States: Moderna, Janssen, Novavax (with Serum Institute of India ) and Pfizer (with BioNTech of Germany).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an Emergency Use Authorization (USA) to Pfizer and is reviewing a pending application from AstraZeneca.

Sinovac requested USA for its vaccine called Coronavac just this week. The FDA was still unable to evaluate Sinovac’s application until it had submitted the interim results of its Phase 3 trials, according to its CEO, Rolando Domingo.

Skeptical ping

Senator Ping Lacson was suspicious of the figures released by Sinovac from its clinical trials in Brazil.

Instead of the previously reported 50 to 90 percent efficacy rate, the senator said his office calculated only 49.58 percent efficacy for Sinovac’s Coronavac following a formula from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. the US Disease Prevention (CDC).

He asked the executive director of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination, Lulu Bravo, to comment on his finding, but the vaccine expert said it was difficult to draw conclusions based on one data set alone.

“We need validation for severe and moderate cases. I’m not the only one who can calculate this, we need more minds, ”said Bravo.

When asked by the President of the Senate, Vicente Sotto III, if she would prescribe a vaccine with a 50 percent efficacy, the doctor replied that the 50 percent threshold was only established by the World Health Organization at the beginning of the pandemic.

He said the decision to use a vaccine with certain efficacy rates should depend on the severity of the infection in a particular location.

“An efficacy rate of 50-70 percent would be acceptable in a pandemic, when there is a severe incidence [in which] 50 percent efficiency would be enough to have that kind of protection, ”Bravo said.

Alleviate China’s fears

In a radio interview, presidential spokesman Harry Roque tried Friday to allay apprehensions about the Chinese vaccine.

“Don’t worry because if you were to search, every day in your life, almost every item you are using is made in China. That is the reality, “he said in a radio interview.

He said that most of the AstraZeneca vaccines that local governments and private companies had ordered would arrive in 2022.

“If you’re healthy and ready to wait, you can use that. But our warning is, remember that there is a new variant that is more transmissible, “said Roque. “If I were you, without forcing yourself, get vaccinated because it is better to have protection than not to have it.”

In addition to its effectiveness, questions about Sinovac’s pricing were also raised during the Senate hearing.

Gálvez, citing confidentiality agreements, refused to disclose the official price offered by Sinovac to the government, but denied reports that Coronavac was the administration’s second most expensive option.

According to figures presented by the Department of Health (DOH) to the Senate finance panel last year, two doses of Coronavac would cost P3,629.50, making it the most expensive vaccine after Moderna.

Supervision, not politics

Also on Friday, Lacson criticized Gálvez for his previous comments in which he accused some senators, including himself and Senator Francis Pangilinan, of politicizing the vaccine issue and demonizing the Sinovac brand.

“Let me assure Secretary Gálvez that there is no politics at this hearing. We call it an oversight, or check and balance, exercised by an equal branch of government, “said Lacson, who called Sinovac” the chosen one. “

Senator Imee Marcos told reporters in a text message that there was a “need to determine” why Sinovac was the first to be approved by the COVID-19 task force despite its high price and low efficacy rate.

“Because of these developments, can anyone blame people for asking SINOVACumita (who benefited)?” she said.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said officials must make “every effort” to gain the trust of the people, warning that favoring a particular brand would not help increase public confidence.

He said that “the insistence or preference for Sinovac cannot be denied and does not bode well for increasing people’s confidence in our ability to tackle this pandemic.”

Commerce Secretary Ramón López said on Friday that the Department of Commerce and Industry (DTI) would formulate guidelines on how micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MIPYMES) could order their own vaccines.

In a Laging Handa briefing, López said Gálvez asked DTI for help in consolidating a list of MSMEs that would like to order vaccines.

There are more than 1 million registered companies in the country as of 2019, 99.5 percent of which are MSMEs according to the DTI, citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. —WITH REPORTS FROM LEILA B. SALAVERRIA AND ROY STEPHEN C. CANIVEL

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