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MANILA (PHILIPPINES DAILY RESEARCHER / ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Rich nations have already purchased at least 80 percent of future supply of Covid-19 vaccines, the Philippine Vaccine Czar said on Wednesday (December 2) .
Carlito Galvez, Jr., director of policy implementation for Covid-19, who is also the designated vaccine czar, said that developing countries like the Philippines are now scrambling for the remaining supply of the vaccines.
“Eighty percent of the global market has been taken by rich countries. Now we are fighting for 18 percent because Covax has taken the other (two) percent,” Galvez said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay online forum.
He was referring to the Covax Facility, a global mechanism designed to ensure fast, fair and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines around the world that the Philippines joined in July.
The former military general explained that the deals were made possible thanks to anticipated market commitments with pharmaceutical companies.
“If we do not meet the anticipated market commitment, we will be at the end of the supply chain,” he said.
The Philippine government and private companies signed a supply agreement with British drugmaker AstraZeneca that involves at least two million doses of its vaccine last week.
This is after President Rodrigo Duterte finally agreed to make commitments and advance payments to private vaccine developers to guarantee supply for the Philippines despite expressing reservations in September due to the country’s procurement laws.
Mr. Gálvez said the government is currently in negotiations with other large pharmaceutical companies for possible vaccine deals.
In addition to AstraZeneca, the government is also investigating vaccines from Sinovac Biotech of China, Gamaleya Research Institute of Russia, and Pfizer of the United States.
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