The arrival of Covid-19 bivalent vaccines that will be donated by vaccine-sharing platform Covax Facility has been put on hold. This as concerned government agencies are still discussing some conditions that vaccine makers require, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday, March 28.
Previously, the DOH said that this type of Covid-19 vaccine is expected to arrive this month. The Covax Facility has committed to donate 1,002,000 bivalent vaccine doses to the Philippines.
“For now, naka-hold po tayo (we are on hold) but we are confident that we can still push through with this Covax donation kasi ginagawa naman natin lahat ng paraan para magkaroon tayo ng option (because we are doing all we can to have an option) so that we can go through these agreements,” said Vergeire during a press briefing.
The DOH earlier explained that the country’s State of Calamity due to Covid-19 already lapsed last December. Alongside the State of Calamity are conditions on the “immunity from liability and indemnification clauses” required by vaccine manufacturers.
“We have tried exhausting all possible means so that this transaction will push through,” said Vergeire.
“We were in constant coordination with the Office of the President, with the Department of Justice, with the Office of Solicitor General just so we can identify available legal remedies so that we can go on and have these Covax donations,” she added.
CDC bill
Vergeire called on lawmakers to pass the measure that seeks to establish the Philippines' Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC bill) as this can help in the country’s vaccine negotiations.
“One of the more concrete na paraan (ways) or option na meron tayo ngayon (that we have currently) and we are awaiting, would be our stipulations in the upcoming CDC law,” she said.
“So, pag naipasa po itong CDC law, tayo po ay nag-include dyan ng isang provision kung saan macocover na po ang mga iniiwasan natin o itong mga provisions na kailangan sa mga agreement natin (Once the CDC law is passed, we included a provision there that covers those that we should be avoiding and provisions that are necessary in our agreement) with those that are going donate vaccines here in the country,” she added.
In a separate statement, the DOH thanked President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.'s for certifying the CDC bill as “urgent.”
“Creating a local CDC will further strengthen the country’s capability to address public health emergencies, making for effective disease prevention and control,” it said.
“Furthermore, this also aims to strategically improve epidemiological and public health surveillance, scale up information systems capacity, and strengthen the role and capacity of public health laboratories to ensure rapid response where and when public health threats arise,” it added.
The DOH said that “all systems that are essential to ensure a proactive health response in normal and emergency situations will be strengthened and institutionalized” once this measure is approved.
“The CDC shall be the technical authority on forecasting, analysis, strategy, and standards development for the prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases and health security events, whether domestic or international,” the DOH said.