Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite asked the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19 on Christmas Day to justify why it strongly prefers China’s Sinovac when its reported efficacy rate against the coronavirus is merely 50 percent and is the most expensive compared to other vaccines.
(Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdie Gaite Facebook / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a statement, Gaite said that the World Health Organization (WHO) has set the preferred efficacy rate of any COVID-19 vaccine to at least 70 percent, and yet Sinovac falls short of the requirement but is in the Top 2 of the most expensive anti-COVID shot the government is bent on purchasing.
“Why settle for this ‘pasang-awa’ kind of vaccine when we can get more efficient ones at a lower price?” Gaite asked.
During the Senate’s hearing on the P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021, lawmakers supported the acquisition of vaccines from AstraZeneca which only costs P610 for two doses, Novovax at P366, Pfizer at P2,379, Moderna at P3,904 to P4,504, Sinovac at P3,629.50, Gamaleya, P1,220, and COVAX at P854.
But Gaite said that with a limited budget for the procurement of vaccines, acquiring the more expensive ones could lower the chances of more Filipinos getting inoculated and achieving herd immunity.
“Sinovac is at the top two of the most expensive COVID-19 vaccines. With the limited budget we have for the vaccine if placed at P82.5 billion would mean that only 22,730, 403 million of our countrymen would be vaccinated and it is at a lower efficacy rate at that,” he noted.
"Other vaccine candidates have 95 percent or 94.5 efficacy rates or even at just 80 or 90 percent but at a much lower price, (and) then more of our countrymen could get vaccinated sooner and with a higher chance of not getting infected with the COVID-19 virus. So why settle for anything less?” Gaite said.
He said Sinovac’s manufacturer have yet to make public the results of its efficacy tests, including Brazil's late stage trial results of the vaccine.
“We hope that the ‘kickvac’ allegations are not true and we must see the whole COVID-10 vaccination plan of the IATF,” the lawmaker said.
“These are primary reasons why we filed a House resolution to probe the vaccination program and we hope that a hearing would be called soon after the resumption of Congress,” Gaite added.
Gabriela Women’s party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said the Duterte administration’s continued preference for the China-made COVID-19 vaccines must be thoroughly questioned as the vaccine logs a very bare minimum efficiency rate.
“Bakit tila may pa-aguinaldo ang Tsina kaya nagpupumilit ang gobyerno sa bakunang mahal pero nangangalahati lang ang pagiging epektibo? (Why does it seem like China is giving favors that’s why it is insisting that the government purchases an expensive and yet less effective vaccine?)” Brosas said in a separate statement.
“All that Filipinos have asked is a clear-cut COVID-19 response, but President Duterte is aiming at the last minute for a vaccine that does not guarantee effective immunization from the deadly virus yet guarantees profits for Beijing.”
Brosas said the government’s vaccine panel should disclose the full report of its review of Sinovac vaccines before acquiring it.