MANILA – The Philippine government is targeting to give coronavirus vaccines to around 50 to 60 percent of its total population, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the aim was expanded following their agency’s meeting with COVID-19 vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.
“We initially cost 20 million which is 20 percent of our population, but when we were discussing it with (Galvez), we decided we would want to have an expanded coverage where 50 to 60 percent of the population can be vaccinated,” Vergeire said.
The Philippines plans to purchase an initial 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with the poor, security forces, government frontline workers and healthcare workers as main priority.
Vergeire, however, said the logistical cost of delivering the vaccine across the country could be more expensive especially if the vaccine requires ultra-low freezer storage.
“We need to be able to cost the end-to-end process before we eventually expand the coverage to include at least 50 percent of the population for this vaccine,” the DOH spokesperson said.
“We are sourcing out, we are looking for many vaccines, but for those which require ultra-low freezer storage, that will require a lot of money because the cost will also include distributing these vaccines to different localities,” Vergeire added.
Only COVID-19 vaccines developed by American firms Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have been proven at least 94 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 infection after human trials so far.
Galvez earlier said the Philippines is finalizing COVID-19 vaccine supply deals from at least three manufacturers from the US, UK and China, and such agreement should be sealed by the end of the month./PN
