Roque: Gov’t studying allowing OFWs to choose COVID-19 vaccine brand

President Rodrigo Duterte is considering revising the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program to allow overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to choose a vaccine brand required by their respective employers, the Palace said Thursday.

“Wala pa, pag-aaralan pa po, but there is basis for the request,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said of the President’s position on the matter.

(It is still being studied.)

“Kung meron pong basehan at gagawin po itong precondition para makapaghanapbuhay ang ating kababayan, may posibilidad po,” Roque added.

(If there is a basis and if this will be a precondition for our OFWs to be employed, then that is a possibility.)

Roque, however, said every government policy will have to comply with the constitutional provision of equal protection of the law.

“It is neither here or there,” Roque said on the President’s position at this point.

Article 3, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution provides that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.”

The Duterte administration has been encouraging the public to get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it becomes available to them, regardless of the brand, since all those issued emergency use authority (EUA) by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are safe and effective.

The issuance of EUA on vaccine brands, however, also requires the Philippine FDA to reveal efficacy rates of vaccine brands after human trials. These efficacy rates vary per vaccine brand, but the lowest so far was that of Chinese vaccine Sinovac which efficacy rate is only at 51% for health workers and senior citizens.

Sinovac’s efficacy rate on those aged 18 to 59 years old, on the other hand, is at 65% to 91%.

At least 5.5 million doses of the Philippines’ over 8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine supply is Sinovac. — RSJ, GMA News