No Sinovac representative at resumption of Senate hearing on Philippines’ COVID-19 vaccine program

There were no representatives of Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech during the resumption of the Senate Committee of the Whole's hearing about the government's COVID-19 immunization program on Friday morning.

The company was included in the guest list but there had been no confirmation of attendance from any of its representatives yet as of 10 a.m., according to the committee secretariat.

Senator Risa Hontiveros previously said Sinovac should attend the hearing so that lawmakers would hear straight from the horse's mouth all the answers to their queries as to the efficacy and price of its vaccine CoronaVac.

In the hearings last week, senators hurled a lot of questions as to the alleged preference of the government for Sinovac but state executive officials denied the allegation.

Senator Panfilo Lacson previously said there could be an attempt to overprice the Sinovac's vaccine but he later vouched for the integrity of vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. after a meeting where the latter showed documents on vaccine deals.

Sinovac General Manager Helen Yang, in an interview, did not specify how much each dose of CoronaVac would cost but she assured that it will be provided to the Philippine government at a "very good" price as she denied that it is the most expensive one among the brands that are being used globally.

Also attending Friday's Senate hearing is the representative of MKG Corporation, the local distributor of another Chinese firm Sinopharm.

They claim that the Department of Health failed to act on Sinopharm’s application to conduct clinical trials in the Philippines.

On the other hand, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III denied that he did not act on this, saying the Philippines’ participation in clinical trials, including Sinopharm’s, was approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases in May.

The Department of Science and Technology also said that Sinopharm reached out to the DOST with two proposals for collaboration, but that the firm never responded afterward.

Galvez said Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine will be "very problematic" in terms of "fairness, equitable access, and cost efficiency" because of its hefty price. — RSJ, GMA News