San Jose del Monte City Rep. Florida Robes on Thursday, March 25, disclosed that  tripartite agreements will be negotiated with the national government and at least three manufacturers of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). 

Robes mentioned Russia’s Sputnik V,  China’s Sinovac and the Astra-Zeneca vaccine of a Swedish-British pharmaceutical, as among the choices for residents of the Bulacan city.

Robes said they are now preparing the letter and other documents needed for the tripartite agreement.

“We want to give our residents what’s available the soonest possible time. I will personally see to it that we administer the vaccines to our frontliners, senior citizens and indigents the earliest time possible so that we can move forward from this pandemic,” Robes said.

The national government requires that all LGU Covid-19 vaccine procurements go through the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF), and the Department of Health and the pharmaceutical companies through a tripartite agreement to integrate and consolidate all resources and initiatives.

Robes, who is chairperson of the House Committee on People’s Participation has been conducting a series of meetings on the development of vaccine for Covid-19 since last year in  a bid to facilitate efforts to bring the safe and efficient vaccine to the Philippines.

During the series of meetings, the Russian Embassy and the British Embassy vouched for the safety and efficacy of their vaccines, ie. Sputnik V and Astra Zeneca, respectively. Sputnik V had been shown to be more effective for senior citizens.

Russian Embassy officials, particularly Vladlen Epifanov, Minister-Counsellor/ Deputy Chief of Mission, told the committee that it has confirmed by respected British medical journal Lancet that the efficacy rate of Sputnik V for people aged 60 years and up is at a high of 91.8 percent.

“Counsellor Epifanov told our committee that the Lancet has confirmed the efficacy rate of Sputnik V to 91.6 percent and for volunteers who are older, who are 60 years old and up, the efficacy goes up to 91.8 percent. This show that Sputnik V is the best for senior citizens,” Robes said.

The Lancet Journal also confirmed that 98 percent of those vaccinated developed good immune response, 1.3 to 1.5 better than those who have had Covid-19. 

“That is I am so happy that Sputnik has finally been given EUA by the FDA. Sputnik V will be a great addition to our vaccine efforts so we can cover not only 20 percent of our population but all Filipinos,” she said.

During the meeting, Epifanov also told the committee that the Russian may be able to provide the vaccine to the Philippines by April this year to cover 1/3 to ½ of the population in the country.  He added that the Philippines may also avail of the Russian Direct Investment Fund to ensure sufficient production of vaccines.