Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Tuesday said he will inform the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. about the existence of a tripartite agreement to hasten the private sector’s procurement of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) vaccines directly from manufacturers.
This came following concerns that the private sector has been facing difficulties in obtaining the vaccines due to the indemnification clause being required by vaccine manufacturers.
“Will inform Washington DC of the development that the private sector is protected by law from liability by (vaccine czar) General (Carlito) Galves’s approach to private procurement: a tripartite agreement. Not so clear yet what it entails but it’s progress. TY General,” Locsin said in a tweet.
The Philippine embassy, along with Galvez and other government agencies, is assisting in the private sector-led negotiations to procure an estimated 20 million doses of Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna is an American pharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
However, the private sector-led procurement effort was marred with confusion anew when President Duterte directed Secretary Galvez to tell vaccine manufacturers that the national government cannot assume liability should a case arises stemming from the administration of the vaccine.
"The government cannot guarantee, much less give you an immune status that you are freed of any and all liability. It's too much. I think we cannot even do that even if we wanted to, assuming liability for the stuff bought by the provinces – tell them it cannot be," Duterte told Galvez during a televised meeting in Malacañang Monday night.
On Feb. 26, Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11525, or the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021, which states that manufacturers "shall be immune from suit and liability under Philippine laws with respect to all claims arising out of, related to, or resulting from the administration or use of a COVID-19 vaccine…except arising from willful misconduct and gross negligence."
On Monday, the Department of Health clarified that private sector companies are allowed to procure vaccines provided that they enter into tripartite agreements with the national government and the vaccine manufacturer.
This, according to the DOH, is in accordance with RA 11525 passed by the Senate and the lower house, and eventually signed by President Duterte.
The DOH explained that such requirement for a tripartite agreement is specified for three reasons: (1) manufacturers of available COVID-19 vaccines require that indemnification be covered by the national government before finalizing any procurement deals, (2) it is the National Government that will shoulder the cost of adverse effects, and (3) available vaccines are only provided EUA, which means that said vaccines cannot be sold commercially, and therefore administration must be aligned with the prioritization framework employed by the National Government.
Through RA 11525, Congress also created a P500 million COVID-19 National Vaccine Indemnity Fund to compensate all individuals who might be affected by the use of COVID-19 vaccines.