COVID-19 vaccine deals will have ideal prices, DOH assures public

The Philippine government will negotiate for the most ideal prices of safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccines, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

The DOH made the assurance in response to Senator Sonny Angara's statement that the market prices of COVID-19 vaccines released by his office were sourced from documents that the DOH submitted to the Senate during the deliberations of the 2021 proposed national budget.

“The DOH clarifies that the said vaccine prices were indicative market prices based on the rates published by different manufacturers generated for the purpose of estimating the proposed budget for the vaccination program. These are not, in any way, the negotiated prices that the government and the manufacturer agreed on,” the DOH said in a statement.

“The DOH urges the public to trust and respect the process that the country, through vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, is undertaking to ensure that Filipinos are afforded the best vaccines at the most ideal prices.”

The DOH issued the statement after vaccine Galvez, Jr. defended the country’s decision to secure 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Sinovac even if its efficacy rates vary from 50% to 91% after human trials in Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey.

Sinovac, based on the DOH’s data submission, also costs more (P3,629 for two doses) than Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (P2,379 for two doses), which already secured emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In a separate statement, Galvez said the vaccine prices that the government is currently negotiating with the vaccine manufacturers are cheaper than the prevailing market price.

“I can assure you that the price of [Sinovac in] Indonesia and the [Sinovac] price of the others (countries which will also be getting Sinovac] will be almost, hindi po nagkakalayo. I can assure you that in our negotiation, the prices relative to our [Southeast Asian] neighbors are fair and considered the best price,” Galvez said.

Pfizer-BioNTech is the only COVID-19 vaccine which has secured EUA from FDA so far. Other pending EUA applications include that of Sinovac, AstraZeneca and Gamaleya.

Galvez earlier said the government will be securing 148 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from seven vaccine makers, among them Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinovac, Astrazeneca, Novovax, Johnson and Johnson, Gamaleya and Bharat BioTech.

The Philippines has recorded 500,577 COVID-19 cases as of January 17. Of this number, 465,991 recovered while 9,895 died. The number of active COVID-19 cases is at 24,691. —KBK, GMA News