Pompeo to help PH secure Pfizer COVID vaccine – Locsin

The Task Group on Vaccine Evaluation and Selection led by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said that it has ongoing engagements with 23 vaccine developers with four undergoing various stages of review and evaluation for their clinical trial application in the country.

DOST Secretary Fortunato dela Peña revealed this in his weekly report on Friday. He said that the task group reported this during the first Vaccine Cluster Meeting chaired by National Action Plan (NAP) Chief Implementer Carlito G. Galvez, Jr.

In addition, the Task Group updated the Cluster on early discussions on the requirements and strategies to enable local pharmaceutical industries to venture into vaccine manufacturing.

The Task Group also provided an update on the World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity Vaccine Trial where the Philippines will participate.

"Further details are classified as confidential as of the moment and are to be finalized by the WHO headquarters together with the WHO Country Office in the Philippines, and the WHO Solidarity Vaccine Trial Team," DOST said.

It added that the vaccine cluster meeting was convened to present the updates from the different Task Groups under the Philippine National Vaccine Roadmap of the National Task Force against COVID-19.

Part of the discussions during the 1st Vaccine Cluster Meeting was regarding the Vaccine Logistics Summit that was held last December 16. The Logistics Summit will try to address the following concerns with regards to the vaccine deployment: distribution and supplies of vaccines; communication and public uptake; administration and mobilization.

Meanwhile, Sinovac, Janssen, and Clover have submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) their requirements for clinical trial application. All three vaccines have received clearance from the Vaccine Expert Panel.

Sinovac is still waiting for clearance from the Ethics Review Board after they responded on December 15, 2020 to the inquiries of the Ethics Board. They also submitted to the FDA on December 17 their lacking documentary requirements. 

However, for the application of Janssen, FDA is still waiting for their local Contract Research Organization to complete the initial requirement for the filing of regulatory review, before they start the review process.

Pompeo to help PH

On Saturday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. revealed that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will give his best to help the Philippines get even a fraction of the Pfizer vaccine deal after “someone dropped the ball,” a claim denied by Galvez.

Locsin said in a Twitter post that he had a phone conversation with Pompeo Friday night and they were able to talk about the Pfizer vaccine deal for COVID-19.

“Great phone conversation with Mike Pompeo last night. Lotsa laughs at others. But on the most serious note I asked him to help Babe (Philippine Ambassador to the United States Babe Romualdez) and I get back even a fraction of the 10 million doses of Pfizer after someone dropped the ball,” Locsin said.

He added that Pompeo will try his best to help the country. “He’ll give it his best try. Babe’s securing Moderna,” Locsin said, adding that the ambassador is also working on the vaccine deal with Moderna.

Locsin had earlier disclosed that 10 million doses of vaccine from Pfizer would be shipped to the Philippines in January “but somebody dropped the ball.”

“We – Babe Romualdez and I – got 10 million doses of Pfizer financed by the World Bank and ADB to be shipped through FedEx to Clark in January. But
somebody dropped the ball,” he said in a Twitter post.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who has been under fire for his alleged failure to work on documentary requirements for the Pfizer deal, denied the allegations, saying that the negotiation with Pfizer is still ongoing.

No bus missed

Even Galvez said that no bus was missed and nobody dropped the ball in the negotiations.

In a “Laging Handa” press briefing, Galvez clarified that the negotiation by the government with Pfizer for the possible supply of COVID-19 vaccines “is still ongoing” and the signing of an agreement may happen this month or by January.

“We are already in the advanced stage of negotiation with Pfizer so we are just waiting for the validation and coordination by the government with Pfizer headquarters. Once we already determine how many (doses) they are willing to allocate to us, there will be a signing of an agreement. Hopefully, the earliest is within this month or first week of January (2021) if there is a delay in the allocation,” he said in Filipino. (With a report from Martin A.
Sadongdong)