DBM: P45B for COVID-19 booster shots unfunded under proposed 2022 budget

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Wednesday that the P45 billion budget requirement for buying COVID-19 vaccine booster shot is not yet funded under the proposed 2022 budget pending solid findings that it is essential.

“Hinahanapan pa po ng pondo ‘yan kasi at this point, hindi pa po sigurado ang science about booster shots," acting DBM chief Tina Rose Canda said during the Laging Handa briefing when asked why the P45 billion budget for the purchase of COVID-19 booster shots is under unprogrammed fund.

"At this point, wala pang nakakapagsabi na kailangan ang booster shot. May nagsasabi na kailangan, may nagsasabi na hindi, kaya hindi pa namin mailagay under programmed (funded),” she added.

(We are still looking for funds for this because the science on whether booster shot is needed is still uncertain at this point. Some say it is needed, some say it is not, so we cannot place it under programmed funds.)

The DBM defines unprogrammed appropriations as those items which will be funded “when revenue collection exceed targets and when additional grants of foreign funds are generated.”

The US government has already authorized administration of booster or third COVID-19 vaccine shot, but the Philippine Health Department has said that booster shots are not yet needed at this point since all vaccines issued emergency use authorization by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration are all safe and effective so far.

Likewise, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that fully vaccinating as much people, especially in Metro Manila which is the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, takes precedence over booster shots.

Roque said Tuesday that 43% of Metro Manila residents eligible for vaccination or those aged 18 and above are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 so far, but only 12 to 14% of other eight priority areas are fully vaccinated.

Canda, however, assured the public that booster shots will be funded as long as Philippine authorities deem it necessary.

“Iyong pagkalap ng pondo para diyan, doable naman ang pagkuha ng excess revenues for that (Looking for funds for that from excess revenues is doable),” she added.

House committee on appropriations chairperson Representative Eric Yap said they are willing to place the said budget requirement under programmed appropriations.

"Para sa akin, willing kami na ilagay siya sa programmed funds, siyempre sasabihan din tayo ng DBM eh na mayroon tayong parating, may nahingi si Presidente na bakuna para sa third shot natin so hindi muna natin kakailanganin 'yan," Yap said during the Ugnayan sa Batasan forum.

(For me, we are willing to place that under programmed funds. The DBM will surely tell us that there are booster shots that will arrive, that the President have asked for booster shots from other countries.)

"Ito po 'yung sinasabi ko na pagdating sa budget deliberations, mae-explain po sa atin 'yan kung bakit kailangan siya ilagay sa unprogrammed and pag nakita natin na medyo tagilid tayo, baka hindi mapondohan, ipapasok po natin siya sa programmed," he added.

(During the budget deliberations, it will be explained to us why it was placed under unprogrammed appropriations.)

The budget deliberations of government agencies are set to begin on Thursday, August 26.

Yap stressed the urgency and importance of enacting next year’s national budget before the end of 2021, as it will be the Philippines' "road to recovery" amid the pandemic.—AOL, GMA News