The tireless work to secure more coronavirus vaccines for Filipinos continues.
Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion has offered to help bring Covaxin vaccine doses into the country and possibly allocate the supply for small entrepreneurs.
The Covaxin vaccine, developed by India's Bharat Biotech, has shown 81 percent efficacy based on clinical trials. The Philippines is currently in the middle of negotiations with the Indian manufacturer to obtain around 8 to 20 million vaccine doses.
“Once Covaxin is approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and our negotiations bear fruit, we are hopeful that we could offer these to our MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) that have not yet secured their doses from previous vaccine manufacturers,” Concepcion said in a statement Friday, March 12.
Concepcion expressed hope that the Covaxin vaccine doses would be delivered to the country by the second quarter, or around May, and would be "priced at the best possible minimum." “The private sector purchases from AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Novavax will be augmented by these new vaccines that will come from India, the Covaxin," he said.
"This vaccine is promising as it was the one used by India’s Prime Minister, PM Narendra Modi, and has posted 81% efficacy from the interim results of its phase 3 trial. It is now only awaiting FDA’s approval,” he added.
Concepcion made the remarks during a meeting with Ambica International Corporation and IP Biotech, the distributors of Covaxin. The President's adviser is also the founder of Go Negosyo, a non-profit organization promoting the welfare of MSMEs to create job opportunities in the country.
The latest meeting with the Covaxin distributors was in line with Concepcion's resolve to obtain additional vaccine supply for the country under the “A Dose of Hope” program. With India considered as the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, the country's partnership with the neighbor would be "significant and a game-changer," according to Concepcion.
Also present in the meeting were India's Ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu Kumaran, President of Ambica International Corporation Kamal Abichandani, Vice President of Ambica International Corporation Deepu Bhatia, Chairman of IP Biotech Enrique Gonzalez, Chief Scientific Advisor of IP Biotech Doctor Noel Miranda, Vice President for Finance and Treasurer of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (Phil) Inc. Rajan Uttamchandani, and A Dose Hope Program Lead Josephine Romero.
The Indian ambassador sought Concepcion's support for the vaccine delivery given that he was a Padma Shri Awardee in 2017. Concepcion has promised to ensure the Covaxin vaccines would be brought and distributed in the country.