COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Gov't eyeing to initially vaccinate 50% to 60% of population —Vergeire

The Philippine government is eyeing to initially give COVID-19 vaccine to around 50% to 60% of the population, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Friday.

“We initially costed for 20 million which is 20% of our population, but when we were discussing it with our vaccine czar, Secretary [Carlito] Galvez, Jr., we decided we would want to have an expanded coverage where 50 to 60% of the population can be vaccinated,” Vergeire said in an ANC interview.

The Philippines, which previously had the worst coronavirus outbreak in the region, plans to purchase an initial 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Priority will be given to the poor, security forces, government frontline workers and healthcare workers.

Vergeire, however, conceded that the logistical cost of delivering the vaccine across the country could be more expensive than the vaccine itself, especially if the vaccine requires ultra-low freezer storage.

“We need to be able to cost the end-to-end process before we eventually expand the coverage to include at least 50% of the population for this vaccine,” she said.

“We are sourcing out, we are looking for many vaccines, but for those which require ultra low freezer storage, that will require a lot of money because the cost will also include distributing these vaccines to different localities,” Vergeire added.

Vergeire has refused to give an estimate on how much purchasing COVID-19 vaccines, including its logistical requirements, would cost.

Only COVID-19 vaccines developed by American firms Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have been proven at least 94% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection after human trials so far.

Moreover, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech requires an ultra-low freezer storage of -70 to -80 degrees Celsius, which poses great challenge for countries with a tropical climate and limited resources such as the Philippines.

Galvez earlier said that the Philippines is finalizing COVID-19 vaccine supply deals from at least three manufacturers from US, UK and China, and such agreement should be sealed by the end of the month.

The Philippines has recorded 413,430 COVID-19 cases so far. Of this number, 374,939 recovered while 7,998 died. The number of active COVID-19 cases is 30,493. —KBK, GMA News