The national government needs to set aside funds to purchase "bivalent" or second generation Covid-19 vaccines that may become available in the last quarter of 2022, Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette garin said.

A bivalent Covid-19 vaccine is designed to target specific variants of Covid-19, particularly the Omicron strain, as well as the original strain. 

“Kailangan may pondo na tayo for the bivalent or second generation Covid-19 vaccines. Wala pong gastos ang magpalista (We need to have funds for the bivalent or second generation Covid-19 vaccines ready. There is no cost to sign up), so that is why we need to order and this should be incorporated into the proposed General Appropriations Act of next year…or pwede rin itong pag laanan ng pondo sa savings ng gobyerno sa taong ito (or maybe we can source funds from this savings of the government this year),” Garin said during a press conference on Thursday, July 14.

“Dahil sa naririnig namin sa mga eksperto, magiging available ito by the last quarter of this year. Hindi tayo pwedeng magpahuli (From what we're hearing from experts, will be available by the last quarter of this year. We can’t get left behind)… we need to be able to coexist with the virus,” Garin continued.

Garin then explained that the aforementioned bivalent vaccines are important because future mutations of Covid-19 may be within the family of the Omicron strain, hence these second generation vaccines offer wider protection.

“Kung titignan mo yung galaw ng Covid-19 virus, huminto sya dito sa Omicron variant at nagkaroon ng maraming sub-Omicron variants. Ibig sabihin doon ngayon umiikot ang continuous mutation ng virus (If you look at the Covid-19 virus, it stopped at the Omicron variant and many Omicron sub-variants emerged. This means that that is where the continuous mutation of the virus happens),” Garin, a doctor and former Department of Health (DOH) secretary, explained.

“Kailangan ng Omicron-specific or second generation vaccines para protektado ka sa kung anumang variant ang pwede pang lumabas kasi nakikita mo na ang (Omicron-specific or second generation vaccines are necessary to protect from whatever variants may emerge as one can see that) future mutations will be within that family,” the doctor-lawmaker said. 

These bivalent vaccines would be added on top of the primary series dose vaccination and booster shots already administered to Filipinos.

When asked by reporters for an estimate of how much she thinks should be allocated for the purchase of the second generation vaccines, she said she would defer to the DOH.

“Yung usapin ng presyo (the discussion of price) should be initiated by the DOH... it will usually be a discussion among countries and magkakaroon po yan ng mga arrangement kung meron bang mga magdodonate (arrangements will be made if countries will donate supplies)… I’ve seen in the budget na wala nga sya doon (there was no allocation for second generation vaccines),” she said. 

Currently, about 71,093,927 Filipinos have received their primary dose of Covid-19 jabs while only 15,191,593 or 13.77 percent of the figure have been boosted against the virus.