Sinovac to give COVID-19 vax to Philippines at ‘very good’ price, says general manager

CoronaVac, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese firm Sinovac, will be provided to the Philippine government at a reasonable price, Sinovac Biotech General Manager Helen Yang said Monday.

"Definitely we are not the highest expensive ones because the mission for Sinovac is to provide the vaccine at an affordable price," Yang said in an interview on CNN- Philippines.

"For [the] Philippines, we do committed to provide a favorable price but unfortunately, I'm not in the position to discuss this confidential information at this moment. But I will be assuring you that this is a very good price that we provided to the Philippines," she added.

Earlier in the day, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque denied that the price of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines to be procured by the Philippines is higher compared to its cost in other countries.

He said the Sinovac vaccine cost given to the Philippines is close to the price given to Indonesia.

“Ang presyo po na makukuha natin sa Sinovac ay hindi po magkakalayo sa presyo na nakuha ng Indonesia. Ang Indonesia po more or less P670, P675 ang kanilang presyo,” he said.

But Yang refused to confirm nor deny this information, citing the confidentiality agreement in the ongoing negotiations.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the procurement of 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Sinovac is not yet a done deal and only a term sheet has been signed so far.

Yang said Sinovac acknowledges that its vaccine has to secure an emergency use authorization for local use in the Philippines.

"Before any vaccine can be used, it has to be approved by the local regulator and if there is an urgent need before a definitive agreement is agreed, and it is accepted and required by the Philippine government, I think we will try our best to be flexible," she said.

Asked if the government deal with Sinovac will only be finalized after the Food and Drug Administration issues an EUA, Yang said: "Which one goes first, we'll be flexible and see how practically that works for the country."

Galvez earlier said Sinovac would secure an EUA before February 20. It applied for one last week. — RSJ, GMA News