The country will hopefully receive its first batch of vaccines against the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by June or July, said COVID-19 Task Force chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Friday (Nov. 20).

Galvez explained during an interview on CNN Philippines that this will be possible once the government reached an advance market commitment (AMC) with the vaccine manufacturer.
 
“Bibilang po tayo ng six to seven months para ma-deliver po yung vaccine (we will count six to seven months before the vaccines will be delivered),” he said.
 
Should an AMC has been secured this month, the vaccine czar said “pwede tayong makakuha ngayong June or July (We can the vaccines by June or July).
 
Under the AMC, Galvez said the government will make advance payments to the companies by as much as 10 to 50 percent of the cost of the vaccine.
 
At the moment, Galvez disclosed that the government is seeking to secure AMCs this month with three vaccine manufacturers from the United States, United Kingdom and China.
 
In December, he said the government also hopes to get AMCs with around three to four more pharmaceutical companies.
 
“Ang contracting should be finished before the first quarter. Pagka na-delay po tayo aabot pa tayo ng July o August or even yung third quarter yung availability ng vaccine (We are pushing to finish the contracting during the first quarter. If it is delayed, the vaccine might become available in July or August or even the third quarter),” the vaccine czar pointed out.
 
Galvez said the advance payment to the pharmaceutical companies will be made bank to bank this January through the Asian Development Bank (ADB) which has been designated by the government as its procurement agent and fund manager.
 
“Ang vaccination po natin ay three to five years ang ating plano (The government plans to have hold a three to five-year vaccination program),” said Galvez.
 
The vaccine czar said the government is targeting to vaccinate 25 million Filipinos during the first year and another 25 million in the second year.
 
“Kasi po ang efficacy ng vaccine ay hindi po natin alam. Pwede po natin ulitin after six months or after one year (We don’t know how effective the vaccine is. So vaccination can be done again after six months or after one year),” he pointed out.
 
Galvez said the first 25 million to be vaccinated will include health workers, essential workers including the military and police, vulnerable people including senior citizens, poor communities, as well as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
 
“So ang ano namin naka-allot more or less nasa range po ng P30 to 50 billion, yung vaccine pa lang po iyon (We are looking to allot between P30 to P50 billion for the purchase of the vaccines,” the vaccine czar said.
 
Galvez said the government will allot twice the amount for the logistics and mobilization of the vaccines.