Galvez refutes report saying poor countries won't have much COVID-19 vaccines until 2023

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Wednesday refuted a report saying developing countries will not have widespread access to COVID-19 vaccines before 2023.

During an inspection on the vaccination plan of Taguig City, Galvez pointed out that in most of the Philippine government’s negotiations, the terms say the vaccine supplies are set to be delivered in 2021.

“Sa ating negotiation, wala tayong 2023 negotiation. Ang negotiation natin is 2021. Ang pinaka-late na delivery is Q1 of 2022,” Galvez said.

“Sa tingin ko , mali 'yung basis ng the Economist (Group),” he added.

A study of the Economist Group showed that the COVID-19 vaccination programs in China and India will stretch until late 2022 due to the sheer size of population, according to a report by Reuters.

More than 85 poor countries will not have widespread access to vaccines before 2023, it added.

According to the report, most African countries are unlikely to get widespread vaccination coverage until early 2023, while many Asian countries will have broad access to vaccines by late 2022.

"Most developing countries will not have widespread access to the shots before 2023 at the earliest," the Economist Group’s research division Economist Intelligence Unit director Agathe Demarais said in the study.

"Some of these countries-particularly poorer ones with a young demographic profile-may well lose the motivation to distribute vaccines, especially if the disease has spread widely or if the associated costs prove too high,” Demarais added.

While acknowledging the possibility of supply problems, Galvez said he believes that the production of other vaccines will increase once their manufacturers obtain emergency use authorizations (EUA).

“Once na nagkaroon nap o ng EUA ‘yung lahat ng mga vaccine—like for example Johnson and Johnson, ‘yung Novavax, and other second generation vaccine—tataas na po ‘yung kanilang production,” he said.

More than 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be delivered in the Philippines that will be used to start the vaccination rollout in February, according to Galvez.

These vaccine products are from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sinovac.

According to Galvez, the negotiation with at least seven vaccine manufacturers is still ongoing, but the government has already signed four term sheets for the supply of COVID- 19 vaccines.

“We hope to seal this within this month or early February,” he said.

The Philippine government is targeting to secure around 148 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate some 50 to 70 million Filipinos this year.

Galvez earlier said the government signed a term sheet with the Serum Institute of India for 30 million doses of Covovax and sealed a deal with China’s Sinovac for 25 million CoronaVac vaccines.

The Philippines is also expecting supplies from AstraZeneca with 20 million doses,  Gamaleya with 50 to 100 million doses, Moderna with 20 million doses, and Pfizer with 25 to 40 million doses.

The government is also negotiating with Janssen for more supplies. —KG, GMA News