Vaccine priority not the rich and powerful, says group

A group of healthcare professionals on Thursday raised firm opposition to the pending bills seeking to allow local government units to speed up procurement of vaccines against COVID-19.

In a statement, the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC), said Senate Bill 2042, which allows LGUs or even private corporations to directly purchase from manufacturers may drive the cost of vaccines up due to high demand.

It may also lead to "maldistribution" of the vaccines based on capacity to pay rather than need and will ignore the recommendations of leading experts in the Health Technology Assessment Council of the Department of Health.

“Mag-uunahang makabili ang may pera, maimpluwensya, at makapangyarihan. Maaaring mahuli pa ang mga frontliners, matatanda, at may mga ibang sakit — ang tunay na kailangang mauna sa bakuna dahil mataas ang peligro sa kanilang buhay. Mas matatagalan din bago natin maabot ang proteksyon ng nakararami — ang herd immunity na kinakailangan para matapos ang pandemiya,” HPAAC said.

“Nananawagan ang HPAAC sa ating mga mambabatas na tutulan ang nasabing panukala upang masiguradong maging maayos ang pagbabakuna ng mga Pilipino,” it added.

Not LGUs' job

HPAAC said procuring COVID-19 vaccines is not the job of LGUs. The group said LGUs must focus on the rollout of vaccines.

It said allowing LGUs to purchase vaccines on their own will result in “grave injustice.”

“When this happens, we all suffer, not just those whom we push to the end of the queue. Mortality will continue unabated, perhaps even increasing,” it said.

“The health system will be overwhelmed and the lockdown will persist pushing our country deeper into economic ruin,” it added.

The group also said other countries procure vaccines as a nation and not per city or state.

“Kapag natuloy ang bill na ito, only in the Philippines na kaniya-kaniya ang LGU sa pagbili ng bakuna,” Dr. Aileen Espina said in a virtual press conference.

Reconsider

Dr. Antonio Dans of HPAAC called on Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, author of the measure, to reconsider his push for the bill.

“Malaki ho magiging impact nito sa tiwala ng mga tao, hindi lang sa effectiveness ng bakuna. Malaki rin effect niyan sa mga tiwala ng tao dahil sila ay nagtitiwala na wala itong gulangan, agawan. Patas lang,” Dans said.

During a Senate hearing earlier in the day,  Dans said the measure could serve as a "legal cover" allowing LGUs to expedite their procurement of COVID-19 vaccines by exempting them from provisions under the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Dans said COVID-19 vaccines are not a local resource and thus, its prioritization and distribution need to be centralized, especially when the supply is not enough.

Currently, LGUs are allowed to purchase the vaccines through tripartite agreements with the national government and the manufacturers.

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr., however, said even if the bill is passed into law, the tripartite agreements would still stand considering that manufacturers only have an emergency use authorization (EUA) for their COVID-19 vaccines in the country.

The country aims to vaccinate some 50 to 70 million Filipinos from COVID-19 this year, with the country allocating some P73.2 billion for the procurement. The amount includes P40 billion coming from multilateral agencies, P20 billion from domestic sources, and P13.2 billion from bilateral agreements.

According to the government's vaccination roadmap, health workers and frontliners from select government offices will be the first to receive the vaccine, followed by indigent senior citizens, other senior citizens, and other indigents.—LDF, GMA News