Galvez denies gov’t withholding tripartite deals on COVID-19 vaccines

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Wednesday denied that the national government is withholding the tripartite agreements pursued by the local government units and the private sector for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

At a Senate hearing, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri raised anew the delay in the signing of the tripartite deal among LGUs and the vaccine manufacturers.

He also sought Galvez’s comment on the alleged vaccine inequality as some local government units are just receiving “trickles” of the national government’s COVID-19 jab supply.

“On the issues that we are holding the tripartite agreement, we want to issue a clarification to the public that it's not desired to put on hold the tripartite agreement, but the manufacturers are not interested anymore for multi-party because it has become complicated and the coordination is too messy,” Galvez said.

The vaccine czar informed the panel that vaccine manufacturers Sinovac, Pfizer and Gamaleya “intend to prioritize” the orders made by the national government considering the limited jab supply.

Galvez said Moderna and AstraZeneca are no longer accepting vaccines orders for "first wave" vaccines through the multi-party agreements for the time being.

On the other hand, J&J and Sinopharm are currently not open to multi-party agreements (MPAs) as provided under Republic Act 11525 or the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021.

'Equitable' distribution

Galvez also said that majority of the millions of doses will be “equitably distributed” to different areas.

“So I believe, with this allocation, we are assuring that all provinces and all the regions will be given their share,” the vaccine czar said.

Zubiri then told Galvez to communicate to the LGUs that there are sufficient supply of COVID-19 vaccines in the last quarter of 2021.

“I believe the LGUs want to hear that because you know, there are LGUs waiting in line, they want to find out kung mabibigyan ba sila ng bakuna [if they will be given vaccines] or not, if it’s in trickles or not because they’re trying to order,” he said.

'Pa-pogi'?

Zubiri also asked Galvez if the national government is holding the MPAs in order to take all the credit for the vaccination program ahead of Eleksyon 2022.

“Kasi may mga issue na binabato sa akin, Secretary, na baka pa-pogi lang ito ng gobyerno, na gusto ng gobyerno sila lang magbigay ng bakuna, wala nang ibang makapagpasok ng bakuna para sa ganun ay pagdating sa halalan, masabi lang ng gobyern  kami ang nagbakuna sa inyo at wala ng iba? Hindi naman ganun?” Zubiri asked.

[The issue has been raised to me that this may be the national government trying to look good by handling all the vaccine procurements so that when election season comes, they can take the credit. Is that the case?]

This was likewise denied by Galvez, who said that the LGUs could be flagged by the Commission on Audit if they pursue the MPAs.

“Sir, hindi naman ganun…Kasi ang mangyayari po ang LGU po natin, kasi o-order sa Covaxin, mako-COA po talaga sila,” Galvez said.

[That is not the case sir. We are just being cautious as the LGUs that will order Covaxin will be subject to audit from COA.]

He added that the contracts with the LGUs and the manufacturers did not provide the “indicatives” of the COVID-19 vaccine orders.

“For us, is still hearsay kasi wala pong indicative po sa contract [because there is no indicative in the contract],” Galvez added.

Previously, Zubiri filed a resolution seeking a Senate probe into the LGUs’ tripartite agreements for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines as “almost all” have not been signed and put “on hold.” — BM, GMA News