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Manila, Philippines – Last week, Filipinos were concerned about the government’s ability to secure an initial supply of the COVID-19 vaccine amid news that neighboring countries were making deals while officials at home were overwhelmed with finger pointing over a failed effort to block a shipment from a major manufacturer.
Accusations of favoritism were also issued, especially when the government turned to drug companies that had not yet released data on their candidate vaccines or were still completing their clinical trials.
The World Health Organization (WHO), however, noted that due to a limited supply of the vaccine next year, the public must understand that what countries are doing now is diversifying their portfolio to ensure that priority sectors, Like front-line doctors, you will be protected against the new coronavirus.
Security of supply
“Due to the supply situation, it is likely that most countries will have to use more than one product. We need multiple products on the market … and achieving security of supply is really important, ”said Kate O’Brien, WHO Director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologics. Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies program, cautioned against pitting governments against each other at this point in the pandemic and comparing their approaches to obtaining the necessary vaccine for their population.
“I don’t think we should see this as a game of winners and losers at this point. We are at the beginning, ”Ryan told reporters at a briefing at WHO headquarters in Geneva.
“It could be very destructive for all of us to turn this into a kind of nationalist race over who does what. We all have to come together. We simply have to finish this race together. And having someone get there first doesn’t necessarily help everyone else, “he added.
When selecting a vaccine, governments are weighing not only the safety and efficacy profile of a candidate vaccine, but also its price, production capacity and the logistics required for its implementation, Ryan said.
“We all have to be a little patient and a little tolerant that things are going to move at slightly different rates in different situations and we don’t politicize this,” he said.
“We need to move forward in solidarity to find these solutions. Science has paid off, now we need solidarity to offer the ultimate solution, which is to prevent this virus from spreading and killing the people we love, “he added.
PH acquisition plan
Under the Philippines’ vaccine procurement plan, Undersecretary of Science Rowena Cristina Guevara said the goal was for the country to secure at least one candidate vaccine from each of the five vaccine platforms.
The acquisition of these vaccines can be through the clinical trial route or through direct purchase. Guevara explained that each platform has different potential benefits for the public and that the decision is driven by the reality that supply may not be able to keep up with demand.
“If we look at the availability of all vaccines ready by 2021, it is not enough for the world population, so we must prioritize. To that end, we must ensure that we can obtain the highest number of vaccines from all types of platforms, ”he said.
Health officials previously assured the public that regardless of who makes the vaccine, it will go through the regulatory process to ensure it is safe and effective.
Currently, only the vaccines developed by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna / US National Institutes of Health have been deployed for limited distribution.
Both vaccines use the mRNA (messenger RNA) platform and are found to have an efficacy rate of at most 95 percent.
Other COVID-19 vaccine platforms include recombinant protein (used by Novovax and Anhui Zhifei Biopharmaceuticals), viral vector (Oxford / AstraZeneca, Gamaleya, and Johnson & Johnson), and inactivated (Sinovac and Sinopharm).
New daily infections
Even with vaccine development and the end of the pandemic in sight, WHO has warned people not to let their guard down. In the Philippines, new daily infections have ranged from at least 1,000 to more than 2,000 since the start of the Christmas fever.
On Sunday, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 1,754 additional coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country to 459,789.
The city of Quezón registered the highest number of new cases, 163, followed by the province of Rizal (104), Benguet and Laguna (83) and Bulacan (61).
The DOH reported that 8,080 patients had recovered after completing 14 days of quarantine, bringing the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 429,134. But the death toll rose to 8,947 with the death of 36 more patients.
Deaths and recoveries left the country with 21,708 active cases, of which 81.3 percent were mild, 8.7 percent asymptomatic, 0.37 percent moderate, 3.2 percent severe, and 6.4 percent critical. . –WITH A REPORT FROM DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN INQ
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What you need to know about the coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
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