(File photo)
MANILA – The government is now readying all necessary steps for the second wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine procurement, said National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19 chief implementer, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., on Thursday.
In a statement, Galvez said the government's move to order more 'second generation' vaccines that could serve as an added protection for people against emerging coronavirus variants.
“Patapos na ‘yung first wave ng procurement natin, which is our supply for this year. We have already an assured supply of 187.6 million doses from various sources kaya maliban sa pagsiguro sa maagang deliveries ng mga bakunang ito, pinaghahandaan na rin natin ang pagbili ng mga bakuna na kabilang sa mga second generation of vaccines (We are done with our first wave of procurement, which is our supply for this year. We have already an assured supply of 187.6 million doses from various sources, thus, aside from assuring the early deliveries of these vaccines, we are now preparing to purchase those that are included in the second generation of vaccines)," Galvez said.
He added they are already discussing the allocation of funds for the measure while waiting for the recommendations of the vaccine experts panel (VEP).
Galvez bared that the government has initially earmarked USD45 million (around PHP2.2 billion) for the second wave of vaccine procurement.
The government is already negotiating with its multilateral partners -- the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
“Ang maganda kasi with multilateral partners funding our vaccine procurement ay nakasisiguro ang bayan na malinis and properly evaluated ang lahat ng transaksyon (The good thing about engaging with multilateral partners funding our vaccine procurement is that we can make sure that all transactions are transparent and properly evaluated),” he said.
The multilateral funding partnership, he said, shuns the "middle man" processing as the manufacturer is directly paid assuring lower priced deals. (PNA)
