Davao City signs contract with AstraZeneca; vaccine ready by Q3

Photo by Associated Press
Photo by Associated Press

DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio announced on Monday, January 11, that the City Government formally signed a contract with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Inc., which committed to deliver initial doses of its Covid-19 vaccines to the city by third quarter of 2021.

“Ang latest pirmado na tanang contracts gipangayo sa atoa sa AstraZeneca. Gitagaan na ta og authority sa SP (Sangguniang Panlungsod) na mupirma (We already signed the contracts asked of us by AstraZeneca. The Sangguniang Panlungsod has given us the authority to sign),” Duterte-Carpio said in a radio interview.

The mayor said they already submitted the necessary documents to the drug company who will be the one who to publicize the agreements it made with the city government.

Duterte-Carpio said the initial negotiations with AstraZeneca were seamless and they did not encounter any problem.

“Wala man mi’y problema sa ilaha kay as early as October nagsulat na ta sa ilaha sa atong interest nga mupalit og bakuna sa ilaha (We didn’t have any problem dealing with AstraZeneca as we wrote them early October, signifying our interest to buy vaccines from them),” she said.

The negotiation between the City Government and AstraZeneca commenced after the 19th City Council approved on Friday, January 8, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into and sign for and on behalf of the City Government the multilateral agreement between AstraZeneca, Philippine government, Department of Health, and city government for the procurement and acquisition of AZD1222 Vaccine.

But the mayor said the city will still be getting its Covid-19 vaccines from multiple sources since AstraZeneca cannot commit to deliver bulk supply to the city.

Based on the city's estimated population, which is around 1.8 million, Duterte-Carpio said at least 1.2 million Dabawenyos are targeted to be administered with Covid-19 vaccine to achieve "herd immunity."

Meanwhile, her supposed meeting with another vaccine maker scheduled on January 8 was reset as the manufacturer also had a meeting with vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.

She did not name the vaccine developer as she would need their permission to do so.

She said, however, that they will prioritize talks with companies that intend to apply for emergency use authorization (EUA) and product registration in the country.

Safety concerns

Based on survey by the University of Mindanao-Institute of Popular Opinion (UM-IPO), conducted from December 7 to 19, 2020, two out of 10 Dabawenyos expressed unwillingness to get the vaccine because of possible side effects, fear of complication, personal mistrust in vaccines, lack of empirical clinical studies affirming the safety of the vaccine, among others.

Also, three out of 10 of the respondents expressed uncertainty whether to get the vaccine or not, "with key reasons of uncertainty such as uncertainty of the efficacy of the vaccines, personal decision to observe the situation first, possible side effects to the body, general skepticism on vaccines and the like."

AstraZeneca Philippines Medical Affairs director Dr. Cyril Tolosa said in a special session at the City Council on Friday, January 8, that their vaccines are "well-tolerated," which means most people will not experience side effects.

"It showed and demonstrated based on a clinical trial that it is well tolerated by the human body," Tolosa said.

He, however, said, "We're not saying this is 100 percent, meaning there will be no side effect. Even with the current drugs that we are using, there will always be side effects."

Among the possible side effects that people might experience are fever and chills, which are the usual side effects of a vaccine. He said this can be remedied by taking paracetamol.

Duterte-Carpio admitted that the city received reports through word of mouth that some Dabawenyos are hesitant to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

This was raised in the recent Davao City Covid-19 Task Force meeting.

She said there is a need to roll out an information dissemination drive to let the public be informed about the vaccine.

She also said they are waiting for the Department of Health (DOH) to release information materials as these will also be used by the city in its information campaign.

"We are hoping na dunay mamahimong ing-ana sa pagpasabot nga gikan sa DOH about sa Covid-19 vaccine. Para it will be the same message and materials that will be used by the city government (We are hoping that DOH will be doing a massive information dissemination on the Covid-19 vaccines so that the message and the materials that they will be using will be the same that the city will use)," Duterte-Carpio said.

"Kung wala, kita mismo mag-develop sa atong kaugalingon nga pagpasabot and pag-explain sa mga tao about sa Covid-19 vaccines (But if they still do not have, we will be developing our own materials to let the public understand and explain to them the Covid-19 vaccines)," Duterte-Carpio added.

The mayor, however, said the drafted Covid-19 Vaccination Program, which will be deliberated in the 19th City Council in the coming days, will not be mandatory.

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