No new orders for Moderna, AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for now —Concepcion

The Philippines cannot place additional new orders for Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for now due to their full allocation, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said on Tuesday.

"Dito naman sa Moderna, si Mr. (Enrique) Razon ng ICTSI [International Container Terminal Services, Inc.], siya ang nag-lead dito sa efforts kasama ng government sa pagkuha dito sa mga Moderna vaccines. Pero alam ko naman na sarado na yata. And I think they've already committed their full allocation. They are not anymore taking orders for this," Concepcion, also the Go Negosyo founder, said at the Laging Handa public briefing.

Concepcion said the government and the business sector are continuing to negotiate with international pharmaceutical firms for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines.

"'Yung available ngayon, ang Novavax. 'Yung AstraZeneca wala rin eh, wala nang mga supply. 'Yung 17 million [doses], 'yun ang huling order," he added, saying that he tried to negotiate for a third batch of AstraZeneca vaccines, but to no avail.

"Dito na lang sa Novavax... Habang maaga pa, mag-order na sila," the presidential adviser said.

Concepcion recently met with private companies and small businesses to discuss the purchase of 17 million doses of Novavax vaccines.

During a Senate panel hearing last week, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government is still finalizing the supply agreements with Sinovac, Novavax, and Moderna.

The Philippines targets to inoculate 50 to 70 million individuals within the year, and an estimated 50,000 is expected to be vaccinated in February.

According to the government's vaccination roadmap, health workers and frontliners from select government offices will be the first to receive the vaccine, followed by indigent senior citizens, other senior citizens, and other indigents. —KG, GMA News