House to probe vaccine prices in executive session Monday

The House of Representatives is set to tackle the cost of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines purchased by the government on Monday, as Malacañang and the country's vaccine czar refuse to divulge details on the procurement.

In a statement released Sunday, House Committee on Health chair and Quezon 4th District Representative Angelina "Helen" Tan said the panel will inquire on the actual price of vaccines through an executive session, as officials have cited a confidentiality agreement with manufacturers.

"It's important that we learn whether the vaccines procured are as cost-efficient as they are safe and effective... We would also like to inquire whether Filipinos will be afforded the opportunity to choose and purchase out-of-pocket their choice of vaccines and how much these will cost for those who would choose this option," she said.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III last week said the Philippines secured 25 million doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine, with the initial batch scheduled to arrive in February. He did not provide details on the procurement cost.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. over the weekend also denied online posts indicating that the Sinovac vaccine would be priced at P3,600, significantly higher than the $13.57 or P652 procurement cost given to the Indonesian government.

"I can assure you that the price of Indonesia and the price of the others will be almost, hindi po nagkakalayo," he said.

For his part, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. claimed the Philippines was given preferential rates and that vaccines from Sinovac are not the most expensive of those available in the international market.

"The mass vaccination is a huge undertaking by the Executive Department. We hope to provide concerned government agencies a platform to present to the people their roadmap for this endeavor... We will also determine, through the hearing, concretive legislative measures we can craft to ensure that the government succeeds in this program," said Tan.

Duque, Galvez, and experts from both the public and private sectors are expected to attend the virtual hearing on Monday, January 18.

The Philippines has already allocated P73.2 billion for the procurement of the vaccines, with P40 billion coming from multilateral agencies, P20 billion from domestic sources, and P13.2 billion from bilateral agreements. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA News