DOH submits vaccine deal documents to COA

The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday submitted the necessary documents related to the national government’s COVID-19 vaccine procurement to the Commission on Audit (COA).

DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire personally presented the documents to COA amid the issue that the Health department is allegedly refusing to release the details of the vaccine procurement contracts due to its non-disclosure agreements (NDA) with suppliers.

“Handa pong harapin ng Kagawaran ng Kalusugan ang anumang katanungan ukol sa ating vaccine procurement sapagkat kampante tayo na lahat ng mga prosesong isinagawa ng ating pamahalaaan sa pagbili ng mga bakuna upang maprotektahan ang ating mga kababayan ay nakaayon sa batas,” Vergeire said.

(The Department of Health is ready to face any question regarding our vaccine procurement because we are confident that all the processes carried out by our government in the purchase of vaccines to protect our citizens are in accordance with the law.)

She also stressed that the DOH’s COVID-19 vaccination program will not be hampered by the issue.

In a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on Wednesday, committee chairperson Senator Francis Tolentino pressed the DOH to provide a date when they will submit the documents that will allow the COA to start the audit on the vaccine procurement. Vergeire then committed that they would submit the documents on Thursday.

According to COA chairman Gamaliel Cordoba, the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have also requested a special audit on the loans they granted the Philippine government for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

In return, Cordoba committed to ensure a complete audit of the public funds used for the vaccine procurements.

DOH earlier said it sent the letter to COA requesting the special audit, and chose COA to be its auditing firm in the agreements.

Vergeire had explained that in October 2021, they communicated with the vaccine manufacturers such as Pfizer, Astrazeneca, Moderna, Sinovac, among others, to seek their permission for the DOH to disclose the information to COA as well as the Senate.

The DOH official said Pfizer allowed them to disclose the details to COA but the state audit agency must also uphold the confidentiality agreement.

Vergeire said they were not able to give the documents to COA as the latter stated that they are not covered by confidentiality agreement because it was entered into only by the DOH and the manufacturer.

Meanwhile, Vegeire said Sinovac did not allow the DOH to disclose the specifics of their contract with the government, especially the pricing information of the vaccines.

On the other hand, Astrazeneca allowed the DOH to disclose the information but it should be divulged discreetly.

For the second time, Vergeire said they wrote to the vaccine manufacturers for the purpose of the Blue Ribbon hearing but only Pfizer and Astrazeneca responded.

Pfizer allowed the DOH to disclose the information through an executive session while Astrazeneca said they are very willing to disclose the information.—AOL, GMA Integrated News