Let science be our guide, not the expiration date!
Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on Wednesday, April 6 gave this advice as government officials worry about the approaching expiration date of Covid-19 vaccines.
‘’Given the oversupply of Covid-19 vaccines here the Philippines, government (the executive branch) should stop the procurement of these vaccines,’’ he said.
‘’Plus considering the issue of whether or not these vaccines, given their original formulation, are still "effective" against the new forms of Covid-19. Let us use what we already have,’’ he stressed.
‘’Let us not panic and try to inject these vaccines into as many arms as possible just because they are about to expire,’’ he added.
Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje was quoted as saying that the government plans to donate some of the expiring vaccines to neighboring countries.
Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, President Duterte’s adviser for entrepreneurship, had said that around 27 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine would expire in July.
“Time is of the essence. This is why I am calling it out now while there is still time before these vaccines expire. If we don’t use these vaccines, we will have wasted the Filipino taxpayers’ money,” he pointed out.
Concepcion observed that the country’s debt has recently reached the P12-trillion level primarily because of massive borrowing to address the pandemic.
He said the country had borrowed at least P2-trillion, with most of it going to vaccines.