Why private firms may not buy COVID-19 vaccines sans gov't hand

Private companies may not purchase COVID-19 vaccines without the government's participation in the transactions, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Monday.

In a meeting with President Duterte and Cabinet officials, Galvez said the vaccines had emergency use authorization which meant the government would be liable for any individual that would show negative effects  after receiving the vaccines.

"Kasi sa ngayon dahil pandemic, walang commercialization ang vaccine. Ito po ay emergency use authorization meaning yung adverse effect at indemnification talagang sa gobyerno mananagot po," Galvez said.

[Since it's pandemic, there will be no commercialization of vaccines. It is still under emergency use meaning adverse effects and indemnification will be liable to the government.]

He explained that the manufacturer cannot shoulder funds for indemnification, which ensures compensation for individuals who will experience side effects from the COVID-19 jabs.

"Yung responsibility po na iyon [indemnification] hindi pwede maidelegate sa private sector at LGU. Talagang yung national government ang panghahawakan ng manufacturer... yung produkto, considering it is under clinical trial, kung sakali magkaroon ng adverse effect, they [company] will be immune of liability also," Galvez pointed out.

[The responsibility cannot be delegated to the private sector and LGU. The national government will be liable, considering the product which is still under clinical trial. If there will be adverse effects, the vaccine maker will be immune of liability.]

Galvez also revealed that the tripartite agreement between national government,  local government and private sectors also allows cheaper procurement of vaccines.

"Ang maganda sa tripartite agreement ay nakakacreate ng malaking volume at napapababa ang presyo. May nangyari na three companies, because of big volumes [of vaccines], naipapababa natin nang napakababa po," he said.

[What's good with the tripartite agreement, we can create huge volumes and this would decrease the price. There was a time that after we ordered from three companies, the price was reduced.]

He also denied reports that the national government is stopping local governments and private companies from procuring vaccines.

Galvez cited that in November last year, 17 million vaccine doses from AstraZeneca, which includes 11 million for local government units and six million for the private sector.

The government also sealed deals with Moderna for 13 million doses for the national government and 7 million  doses for the private sector and Novavax, Galvez also disclosed.

The national government is also having ongoing negotiations with Novavax to purchase 5 to 10 million shots of vaccines for local government units and private firms.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the biggest business group in the country, earlier asked the government to allow private firms to import and buy their own COVID-19 vaccine shots without restrictions.

Over the weekend, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines said the private sector could procure vaccines through tripartite agreements and there was no need for them to donate vaccine doses to the government. -NB, GMA News