Galvez: Philippines to lose 148M doses of COVID-19 vaccines over premature price disclosure

The Philippines will lose its 148 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines if the prices of the vaccines will be disclosed at this point, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. said on Tuesday.

Galvez was responding to criticisms of his adamant non-disclosure of the cost of each brand of COVID-19 vaccine that the government is hoping to buy, due to existing confidentiality disclosure agreements (CDA) with vaccine markers.

“Wala pong korapsyon sa ating negosasyon. Ang presyo po ng ating binibiling bakuna ay sakop ng CDA, kaya hindi po natin iyon puwedeng ilabas sa publiko. Maaari pong mawala sa atin ang 148 million doses na nine-negotiate natin sa vaccine companies kapag lumabag po tayo sa kasunduan,” he said in a briefing.

“Kami po ay humihingi ng paumanhin sa publiko na irespeto po natin ang ating mga kontrata. Dito po nakasalalay ang ating 148 million [doses] na [COVID-19] vaccines,” Galvez added.

Galvez, however, assured transparency and accountability in securing COVID-19 vaccine deals by arguing that onerous provisions cannot pass the scrutiny of the Finance department, as well as the financial institutions which will provide loans to the vaccine procurement, namely the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB). 

“'Yung mga pinipirmahan po naming kontrata, dadaan pa po 'yan kay [DOF] Sec. Dominguez. Alam po natin ang scrutiny niya sa mga onerous contracts,” he said.

“'Yung credibility, transparency, anti-corruption policy ng Asian Development Bank at World Bank, napakatibay. 'Yung kanila pong anti-corruption standards, napakataas,” Galvez added.

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

He said 70 million Filipinos will get a COVID-19 vaccine within the year in a best case scenario.

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Monday said he suspects an attempt to overprice the vaccine produced by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac.

In a privilege speech, Laccon said that the "original price" of Sinovac's product, at P3,629 or $38 for two doses or P1,814 or $19 for one dose, had it pushed through compared to $5 price in Thailand, spells a price difference of P16.8 billion for 25 million doses.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier said that the Philippines has secured 25 million doses of the product and that 50,000 doses will arrive by February.

COVID-19 response officials later said this was not yet final as experts and the state regulator have yet to approve the product for use in the country.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday backed Galvez on the non-disclosure of the prices of the COVID-19 vaccines that the Philippines will buy for its mass inoculation program.

In his weekly briefing with COVID-19 response officials, Duterte said Galvez should stick to his “game plan” for the rollout of coronavirus vaccines despite the doubts lawmakers raised at congressional investigations. —KG, GMA News