DAVAO City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio on Monday, December 7, disclosed that the city government has initiated discussions with two Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers for the possibility of procuring some for the city.
However, she said the first pharmaceutical company replied that "they will only sell it to the Department of Health (DOH)" for "non-profit" purposes.
The second one responded to her saying that "Since there is still no eligible registered vaccine, all current inoculations are for emergency use. Large scale production and sale cannot be arranged at a present stage." The second company, however, recommended that the city government apply for phase 3 of the vaccine development.
Should the procurement of vaccine push through, the mayor said the city could redirect some funds and put on hold some projects to prioritize the vaccine.
Meanwhile, President Rodrigo R. Duterte on December 1, 2020, issued Executive Order (EO) No. 121 authorizing the director-general of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue an emergency use authorization (EUA) for Covid-19 drugs and vaccines.
It was also reported earlier that Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said he expects the first shipments of a Covid-19 vaccine in the latter part of the second quarter of 2021.
In a SunStar Philippines report, the government and business community have signed a tripartite agreement with British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca for the supply of 2.6 million doses of its vaccine candidate against Covid-19. The government is also in talks with Pfizer/BioNTech, Gamaleya/Russian Direct Investment Fund, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
While there is progress in the planned procurement of the Covid-19 vaccination efforts of the national government, it will still be a while before we get a hold of it. This is due to logistical and supply challenges in the manufacture and delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The Philippine government will have to ensure that storage facilities for vaccines are in place in key cities and locations in the country. There is also a need for it to make sure that the logistics needed to transport the vaccine across the country are also ready. Also, it has to ensure that the implementation of its vaccination program goes smoothly. The last thing we want to happen is millions of pesos and precious vaccines going to waste due to mishandling.
Nonetheless, the progress in the Covid-19 vaccine development across the globe and the Philippine government making crucial steps to secure doses of the vaccine is a silver lining to this pandemic.