Gov’t urged to be more lenient to private sector in COVID-19 vaccine procurement

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday urged the government to be more lenient to the private sector in their intention to procure their own vaccines against COVID-19.

In a virtual interview with reporters, Lacson lamented how the government is imposing too many regulations on the private sector in procuring COVID-19 vaccines.

"Parang pinapahirapan yung private sector sa overregulation. Hindi ba dapat tulungan [natin sila]?" he said.

[It seems like the government is giving the private sector a hard time due to overregulation. Shouldn't we help them instead?]

"Luwagan lang. Hindi naman natin iaaalis na siyempre hinahanap ng gobyerno na meron din silang kontrol kasi health issue ito. Pero huwag nang masyadong pahirapan," he added.

[Let's give them more leeway. We can't take away the fact that the government wants control on this because this is a health issue. But we should not make this hard for them.]

Currently, the Vaccination Program Act of 2021, which President Rodrigo Duterte signed last month, allows private entities, in cooperation with the Department of Health and the National Task Force Against COVID-19, to purchase vaccines for their own use through a multiparty agreement.

Lacson recalled that several businessmen had earlier sought to procure directly from vaccine manufacturers, and they are willing to donate up to 50% of their procurement to the government.

These donations, he said, could have been helpful in the government's vaccination program.

"Let's face it, the private sector is more efficient than the public sector lalo na pagdating sa procurement at pagdating sa efficiency sa mismong pag-implement," Lacson said.

[Let's face it, the private sector is more efficient than the public sector especially when it comes to procurement and the implementation of the vaccines itself.]

"We should not treat the private sector as competitor. Dapat ang treatment natin sa private sector is a partner," he added.

[We should not treat the private sector as competitor. We should treat the private sector as a partner.]

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the country’s largest business organization, earlier called on the government to allow the private sector to import and buy COVID-19 vaccines directly from accredited sources without restrictions or conditions amid the surge of new infections.

“We urge the government to allow the private sector to import vaccines without restrictions or conditions so we could move quickly and efficiently in vaccinating more people,” PCCI president Benedicto Yujuico said in a statement.

He added that the government should speed up the procurement and rollout of vaccines "to ensure the safety of our workers and people, improve consumer confidence and hasten the recovery of our economy." — BM, GMA News