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Saturday, December 12, 2020 Vol. 16 No. 65
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Giveaway Master
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. lays down in a Philippines GraphicBusinessMirror webinar the financial, logistical, and social preparation requirements of a massive immunization drive against Covid 19.
M
By Samuel P. Medenilla
petent in identifying the priority vaccines, with the preparation of a good database this early.
ORE than the massive scale of the logistical requirements it will entail, the government’s vaccination drive for the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) next year is also faced with yet another daunting task: convincing people of the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.
Chief implementer of the government’s national policy on Covid-19 Carlito G. Galvez conceded that they already anticipated as much, especially amid the recent issues hounding some of the forerunners of the so-called vaccine race. Among the vaccines which have raised public concerns are those from Chinese drug maker Sinovac Biotech Ltd., as well as that in the United Kingdom being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. International media reported Sinovac’s CEO had admitted in court to bribing certain regulators in China for an earlier vaccine it developed, while AstraZeneca faced scrutiny, particularly in the United States, due to discrepancies in the results of its clinical trials. Both are currently included on the government’s shortlist of the vaccines it is considering to buy for its immunization drive next year.
Intact protocol
GOVERNMENT officials said they are already aware of the said issues and assured the public that vaccines from both manufacturers will not be
allowed locally until they obtain the approval of its vaccine expert panel as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Despite being streamlined, Galvez assured the review protocols of FDA remain intact to ensure only safe and effective vaccines will be allowed into the country. And as an additional layer of safeguard, he pointed out, both manufacturers are currently undergoing application to conduct local clinical trials. This, local authorities said, will hopefully allow FDA to witness first-hand the results from the said vaccine developers. In case both manufacturers do not get the approval of FDA, Galvez said they have other options. He said they are considering purchasing Covid-19 vaccines from at least 17 manufacturers worldwide, including those from Pfizer, Moderna, Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute and China’s Sinopharm.
Info drive
HOWEVER, the tricky part for the government is how to relay this information to the target 25 to 35
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Target areas
GALVEZ said an information campaign is already a core component of their Covid-19 Vaccination Road Map, which he said will rely on their close coordination with concerned LGUs. The vaccination czar disclosed they will prioritize the following areas, which are considered epicenters of the pandemic in the country. He said these include the National Capital Region, Calabarzon, Central Luzon. Also to be part in the initiative are Davao City, Cebu City, Cagayan de Oro, Baguio City, Bacolod, Iloilo, Zamboanga City, Tacloban City and General Santos City. Galvez said LGUs will play a crucial role in ensuring the public will be constantly aware of their vaccination initiatives. “We will be discussing the possibility of how the national government and local government units could work on this unprecedented immunization program,” Galvez said.
Logistics summit
SLIDES from Galvez’s presentation
million people, who are part of the target beneficiaries of the government’s Covid-19 immunization drive next year. Mayor Arman Dimaguila of Biñan, Laguna, flagged the psychological hurdle after witnessing the presentation of Galvez in an online forum organized by the Philippines Graphic and BusinessMirror on Thursday, “Sparking Hope: Will a Covid-19 Vaccine See an End to the Pandemic?”
During his talk, Galvez noted that the government is particularly eyeing to use vaccines from Sinovac and Gamaleya in the initial batch of the beneficiaries of the government vaccination drive by the first quarter of 2021. “We may have this situation where our kababayan will be waiting for the vaccine from the UK and the US instead,” Dimaguila said. “Maybe with proper information dissemination on the ef-
fectiveness of [the vaccine] from China and Russia, maybe we could convince our constituents to be vaccinated with Chinese and Russian vaccines,” the mayor added. Similar concerns about carrying out the unprecedented immunization mission from the LGU side were raised by Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla and Quirino Governor Dakila “Dax” Cua. Remulla underscored the need for capacitating the LGUs to be com-
ASIDE from LGU coordination, Galvez said they are also eyeing to finalize their logistics preparation this month. He said they will finally be conducting their logistics summit on December 16, 2020, for the said purpose. Among the issues expected to be addressed by the summit will be the cold-chain facility, information technology system, as well as the manpower needed for the government’s immunization drive. “As I said earlier, the best-case scenario is we will be having the vaccine rollout, majority of it, end of the second quarter or mid of third quarter [of 2021],” Galvez said. However, due to the recent developments, wherein some countries like the UK and China have already started the limited use of Covid-19 vaccine, the government may be able to also start its immunization drive by the first quarter of next year, according to Galvez. Over 60 to 70 million Filipinos are expected to benefit from the immunization initiative, which will be carried out in the next three to five years.
n JAPAN 0.4613 n UK 63.9099 n HK 6.2013 n CHINA 7.3431 n SINGAPORE 35.9998 n AUSTRALIA 36.2089 n EU 58.3533 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.8158
Source: BSP (December 11, 2020)