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WHO urges PH to follow priority list to ensure supply of vaccines from COVAX
WHO urges PH to follow priority list to ensure supply of vaccines from COVAX
If the Philippines wants to ensure “a smooth delivery of vaccines” from the COVAX facility, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged the country to follow the prioritization on who gets the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine first.
WHO Representative to Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said that the Philippines must show that it can roll out its COVID-19 vaccination program in an “efficient manner.”
“If we want to ensure that we continue to access the vaccines from COVAX facility, we need to demonstrate that we can follow prioritization, we can offer protection to the most vulnerable,” he said during a press briefing hosted by the Department of Health on Thursday, March 4.
“If we don’t demonstrate that, unfortunately the COVAX may have to consider other options where the impact of the vaccines will be more useful and practical and will contribute to saving more lives,” he added.
Abeyasinghe emphasized that healthcare workers should be first in the priority list followed by the elderly people.
“The most at risk group has been the healthcare workers who are caring day and night of COVID-infected patients. Following this group being protected with the vaccines is the elderly and those suffering from co-morbidities because it is among those groups that we see the highest case fatality rate,” he noted.
“We urged the Department of Health and all partners engaged in the rollout of vaccines to follow this prioritization so that we don't impact and jeopardize future deliveries of vaccines through the COVAX facility and to ensure a smooth delivery of vaccines,” he added.
When asked if COVAX will stop sending vaccines to the Philippines if it fails to adhere to the prioritization, Abeyasinghe said: “The COVAX facility and all signatories are all expected to follow those criteria to which the Philippine government has also agreed and signed. The primary purpose of the COVAX facility was to minimize the impact of the pandemic by protecting the most at risk and the most vulnerable,” he said.
“Given the large need of vaccines across the world, if there are multiple reports of violation of that prioritization, the COVAX may have to decide how to address that challenge. My word of caution is let's not go there. Let's ensure there is smooth continuing rollout of COVAX vaccines so that we protect more people as quickly as possible,” he warned.
Last February, Abeyasinghe announced that the Philippines is expected to receive a total of 44 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility.