Gov’t to prioritize vaccines under COVAX Facility

November 11, 2020

The Philippine government will give priority to Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) COVAX Facility in securing anti-coronavirus vaccines for Filipinos, an official said on Wednesday.

National Task Force Against COVID-19 and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., in a virtual press briefing, said the government will make sure that the vaccines it will purchase are "safe, effective and cost efficient."

"We are giving priority, especially those in COVAX Facility because we can access them at a cheaper price," he said.

The COVAX Facility, co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the World Health Organization (WHO), is a platform that aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and to ensure that every country is able to access the vaccines.

Galvez said under COVAX, there is "20 percent guaranteed access, meaning, more or less 25 to 20 million Filipinos will have access to COVAX."

Aside from COVAX, he reiterated that the Philippines is having bilateral talks with other countries, which have been developing and manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines to increase access for "at least 25 million to 30 million" of the country's population.

The other countries that the government has been negotiating with are China, Russia, United States, United Kingdom, and Israel, among others.

"That's why if our target is 75 to 80 million of our population, we will do this in 3-5 years time," he said.

For next year, however, Galvez said the government is targeting 50 million vaccines.

"We will do everything to negotiate...I'm confident that we can get 50 million vaccines next year," he said. Celerina Monte/DMS