Roque on delayed Pfizer vaccine arrival: Hindi malaking issue yan

The delayed arrival of 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine under the COVAX facility is not a big issue, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Monday.

Roque made the response when asked about updates on when the said 117,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were scheduled to arrive in the country.

“Wala pa pong kasiguraduhan ang [pagdating ng] Pfizer[-BioNTech]. But we’re only talking of 117,000 doses anyway from Pfizer[-BioNTech] ‘no. So hindi naman po talaga malaking issue iyan,” Roque said during a Palace briefing.

Pfizer-BioNTech, the first COVID-19 vaccine brand to secure an emergency use authorization from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which the company got on January 14.

The FDA confirmed that Pfizer-BioNTech had a 95% efficacy rate among its study population on top of a 92% efficacy rate among all races.

While he brushed off the delayed arrival of the 117,000 doses, Roque said that the Philippines could expect the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccines AstraZeneca and Sinovac.

“Ang malaking inaasahan natin iyong AstraZeneca at saka iyong Sinovac that will begin delivery of at least one million dosages for the next few months, tapos mado-doble pa iyan to two million, kung hindi ako nagkakamali, nang pang-apat na buwan yata; iyong second quarter yata magiging two million,” Roque said.

“I said that ‘no, that as far as AstraZeneca is concerned, they have sent a notice and it’s not just to the Philippines but to all recipients, that AstraZeneca will be shipped out at the end of February but warned that there may be delays because of logistical challenges,” Roque added.

AstraZeneca, which got EUA from FDA last January 28, posted an efficacy rate of 70% after the first dose. The said rating increases after the second dose is administered four to 12 weeks after the first dose.

Sinovac is the latest to get an EUA from the FDA on Monday, February 22, posting a 65.3% to 91.2% efficacy rate among clinically healthy individuals aged 18 to 59 years old.

The FDA, however, did not recommend the use of Sinovac on health workers since its efficacy rate only reached 50.4% in that group.

While Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca secured EUAs last January 14 and January 28, respectively, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. only announced that the arrival of 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will be delayed last February 11 because the country lacked an indemnification law.

The indemnification law mandates the national government would provide compensation to those who will experience severe adverse effects as a result of getting a COVID-19 vaccine. — DVM, GMA News