The Department of Health (DOH) expressed its readiness to coordinate with authorities to audit the purchase of vaccines in relation to the country's Covid-19 vaccination program.
“On the subject of Covid-19 vaccine expenditures, the DOH is ready to coordinate and comply with the COA's (Commission on Audit) auditing process and provide all required documents available to the DOH in accordance with existing laws,” the state health agency said in a brief statement on Wednesday, Nov. 16.
Also, the DOH is ready to face any probe about the implementation of the Covid-19 vaccination program.
“The DOH welcomes any inquiries from our partners in the Congress and the Commission on Audit concerning the DOH’s performance of its mandates,” it said.
The COA has yet to provide an audit of Covid-19 vaccines that were purchased from 2020 to 2021, said Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Sonny Angara on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
The senator said that COA has yet to audit the vaccination program due to non-disclosure agreements signed by the government and vaccine manufacturers.
A total of 165,439,563 Covid-19 vaccine doses were administered in the country as of Nov. 15, based on the DOH’s Covid-19 vaccination dashboard.
To recall, the Philippines started its Covid-19 vaccination program on March 1, 2021.