Lacson: How can we talk booster shots when gov’t can’t reach vaccination target?

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday asked the economic managers if the proposed P45-billion funds for the procurement of COVID-19 booster shots can be utilized when the government is lagging behind its “ambitious” vaccination target.

“How can we talk of booster shots when we have not inoculated enough and the projection ng IATF by end of October, and this is a bold ambition, [to] inoculate ang 70 percent which is the herd immunity,” Lacson raised during the Senate hearing on the proposed P5.024-trillion budget for 2022.

Citing data from the Department of Health, the lawmaker said a total of 36.2 million doses have been administered as of September 7 and that the government still needs 195.29 million doses to achieve herd immunity.

“I would like to hear from the economic managers kung realizable ba ito, kung magagamit ang P45.7 billion for booster shots when we are not even talking here of full vaccination of adult Filipinos. We are not even considering the 12 to 17 years old,” he said.

[I would like to hear from the economic managers, is this realizable and can we use this P45.7 billion for booster shots when we are not even talking here of full vaccination of adult Filipinos. We are not even considering the 12- to 17-year-olds?]

“I’m just being practical. I’m just being realistic; baka naman pwedeng magamit pa natin yung P45.7 billion for next year sa ibang purpose kasi baka di rin magamit,” he added.

[I’m just being practical. I’m just being realistic because we might use this P45.7 billion next year for other purposes.]

Although he noted that the P45.7 billion for booster shots will be lodged under unprogrammed appropriations, Lacson said the Department of Finance will still find ways to provide funds for this.

Budgetary items that fall under unprogrammed appropriations, like the booster shots, will only be funded if there are excess revenues or government collections, or if the government receives funds from loans or grants.

“I heard Secretary Dominguez many times na very confident tayo dahil ang credit standing natin is still okay and kung nasa unprogrammed funds ito, definitely, gagawa ang DOF ng paraan to produce the budget. ‘Yung lang ang point ko that’s why I raised this because we are lagging behind,” the senator said.

[I heard Secretary Dominguez say many times that he is very confident because our credit standing is still okay and if this is under unprogrammed funds, definitely, the DOF will find ways to produce the budget. That is my point and that is why I raised this because we are lagging behind.]

In response, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the problem in the country’s vaccination program is not the government’s inability to inoculate but the worldwide supply.

“As I mentioned several times, our constraint is not the ability to inject. Our constraint is the supply. It is not that we have not ordered it. It is not that we don’t have any money. It is the ability of the [pharmaceutical companies] to deliver. We have ordered it and we expect the pharmas to meet the commitments,” Dominguez said.

The Finance chief told the lawmakers that the government must also be realistic that the Philippines is not the sole country that is experiencing supply problems.

Moreover, Dominguez explained that the government must be forward-looking and it must prepare for the next step after achieving the herd immunity.

“In preparation for the achievement of total vaccination, we should already plan and negotiate and be ready to order the third dose if the health authorities authorized it,” he said.

“If we don’t put it in the budget and it’s just so happen that we are able to meet the targets, I don’t know, end of his year, or first quarter of next year, and the doses are recommended, I would not want to be left in a situation where we don’t have the funds,” he added.

Dominguez said in jest that he would not want Lacson to find money for the booster shots next year in case he wins as president.

“I know Senator Ping is running for president and I don’t want to leave him in June, July of next year, in case he wins, that we don’t have the budget. So I want t make sure that the next administration has the proper budget,” he said.

Nevertheless, Lacson insists that the IATF’s target vaccination is “very ambitious” for an October 31 timeline.

At the early part of the hearing, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon asked the economic managers the wisdom behind the lodging of COVID-19 booster shots under the unprogrammed appropriations.

He pointed out that the immunity of health workers against COVID-19 might weaken by October as some reports indicate that some vaccines’ efficacy wanes after six months.

Dominguez told the lawmakers that he had argued for the appropriation of regular funds for booster shots but health experts said there is no concrete evidence that it is necessary.

“Why is now the budget for booster shots not fixed in the budget but rather as unprogrammed funds, it is because at this time the panel of experts have not yet determined with finality that the booster shots are proven to be necessary,” he said.

“On the other hand, we are preparing a line item in the budget that we can activate immediately upon the formal approval by the health authorities,” he added. — BM, GMA News