The Department of Health (DOH) has requested the Commission on Audit (COA) to conduct a special audit of Covid-19 vaccine deals in November last year, said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire.
“We are open to that at DOH mismo ang nag-request (and the DOH was the one that requested) for this audit. It is true that even November 2021, I think— the DOH has already requested the Commission on Audit for a special audit para po dito sa ating mga bakuna na binili natin sa WB at sa ADB (Asian Development Bank) loan (for the vaccines that we bought from the WB and the ADB loan),” said Vergeire in a press briefing on Tuesday, Dec. 6.
“This was still the time of the former DOH Secretary Duque , and we affirm that,” she added.
Vergeire reiterated that the DOH is ready to provide the necessary documents in relation to the special audit and in any investigation.
“Bukas po ang Kagawaran ng Kalusugan para sa kahit anong imbestigasyon tungkol po sa pagbili natin ng bakuna (The Department of Health is open to any investigation regarding our vaccine purchase),” she said.
“And if the agreements that we have entered into will allow us para po maibigay ang ibat-ibang mga dokumento na ito, naturally po, makikipagtulungan kami at ibibigay sa kanila ang mga dokumento (And if the agreements that we have entered into will allow us to provide these various documents, naturally, we will cooperate and provide them these documents),” she added.
Vergeire said that most of the non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and confidential disclosure agreements (CDA) that the DOH have signed with vaccine manufacturers, it was indicated that “if in case that time will come that proper courts of law will be requesting through subpoenas officially, then we will need of course, to coordinate with the manufacturers themselves so that we can release the information officially.”
“Part of CDAs and NDAs yung prices ng bawat bakuna. isa yan don sa pinakatalagang close para sa kanila (were the prices of each vaccine. That was one of the most close parts) during that time that we were having agreements because of competition, and we understand that because of market forces,” she noted.
Vaccine wastage
In a related development, the DOH said it does not have the exact value of the at least 44 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that have gone to waste. However, based on DOH’s estimate, each vaccine dose may be pegged at P500.
"Doon sa kuwenta (On prices), we do not have the exact amount of how much because of the non-disclosure agreements," said Vergeire.
"But what we do... for planning purposes, we assume na P500 across the board ang mga bakuna (that the vaccines are P500 across the board)," she added.
There are two categories of vaccine wastage. One is the open vial wastage wherein it happens when there is a low number of vaccine recipients in a particular site or the incorrect use of needles. Another is the close vial wastage wherein it happens if there is a natural calamity or temperature excursion, said Vergeire.
"Most of the wastage would be coming from expired vaccines because of short shelf life," she said.
Vergeire noted that most Covid-19 vaccines have a shelf life of less than a year.
Hesitancy and less interest in vaccines among some people were also considered as factors for vaccine wastage, said Vergeire.
“The uptake of vaccines started to wane as early as the first quarter of 2022,” said Vergeire.
"With this kind of shelf tapos bumaba yung uptake natin, mas madali nasira ang ating mga bakuna," she added.
However, Vergeire said that vaccine wastage “is not just happening in the Philippines. It is happening across the globe.” Citing the GAVI, a global vaccine alliance, “the vaccine wastage can go as high as 30 percent in this kind of situation that we are all in now,” she said.
To note, the 44 million vaccine wastage in the Philippines is equivalent to 17.5 percent of all the vaccines that the country has received.