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‘Mismanagement’ of procurement process caused delay in vaccine delivery —Drilon


The delay in the Philippines' purchase of COVID-19 vaccines is caused by the "mismanagement" of the procurement process, and not solely by the absence of an indemnification law, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Monday.

Interviewed on ANC, Drilon said the lack of an indemnification law "is not the only reason" why there is a delay in the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

"Totally, it is the mismanagement of this entire process that caused the delay in our procurement," he said.

For instance, Drilon said the government's initial refusal to make advance payments for the vaccines resulted in the Philippines being among the last countries to receive the doses.

"These are commercial transactions, and with the supply very tight, we have to fall in line. And this is just the reality in this situation. The manufacturers are commercial establishments," he said.

"We have to queue and we are last in the queue because of our failure to make the advanced payments early enough," he added.

The Philippines has also already submitted an indemnity plan to Pfizer for the delivery of vaccine doses, and the COVAX Facility is expected to send more than 100,000 doses of vaccines to the country once the firm signs off on it.

"These alleged indemnity agreements are not the cause of these delays. If it is the cause, then we should have been informed as early as July about this," Drilon said.

"The fact that it is only foisted to us last week is an indication that the supply agreement is not the cause of the delay," he added.

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said the country's lack of an indemnification law—a measure ensuring compensation for individuals who develop serious side effects after getting a COVID-19 vaccine—has delayed the delivery of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses to the Philippines.

He said the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine could have been delivered to the country as early as February 12 if the Philippines had its own indemnification law.

The Philippines is expected to receive at least 5.6 million doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines within the first quarter of 2021, with the initial batch of 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines arriving this month.

Measures are currently being tackled in both the Senate and the House of Representatives establishing an indemnification fund and expediting the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

The Senate aims to approve its version of the measure on second and third reading on Monday. — BM, GMA News

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