PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday evening, September 7, 2020, said the government will procure a vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) from a supplier who can offer the lowest price.
"Kung sino lang mauna magbigay sa atin ng mura, doon tayo pupunta," Duterte said during a meeting with some Cabinet members Monday evening.
"They know that we do not have enough money. Kung mahal masyado, we will go with the less expensive one," he added.
Duterte said Moderna Inc., a US biotechnology company, will likely be ready with its vaccine this September.
Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, in a media forum earlier Monday, said the government is reviewing confidential disclosure agreements (CDA) from Moderna and Pfizer.
She said DOH met with Pfizer representatives on Friday, September 4, but no commitments were made.
She said they explained the regulatory process in the Philippines during the meeting and assigned a point person who will deal with Pfizer.
Vergeire said the Pfizer representatives informed DOH that their company will not conduct clinical trials in the Philippines. Pfizer said their phase three clinical trials might be completed by end-October 2020.
"Once these CDAs are finalized, we can move forward for further meetings para ma-finalize natin ang agreement natin sa kanila," Vergeire said.
"Lahat po ng clinical trials na mangyayari dito sa Pilipinas, whether it be an independent clinical trial or it is part of the WHO solidarity trial o yung mga trials na kausap natin ang iba't ibang gobyerno for partnerships, lahat will go through our regulatory process,"
Vergeire also said the DOH has required that it be notified of all independent trials to facilitate monitoring and ensure that all the vaccines used in the trials are safe.
Vergeire also said they had an online meeting with the Philippine Embassy in Russia on September 4, during which they discussed updates on a proposed cooperation agreement between the Philippines and Russia.
The Philippines' vaccine experts panel held a separate meeting with representatives from Russia's Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, which developed the vaccine called Sputnik V, to discuss the technical aspects.
The Philippines is also in talks with a vaccine manufacturer in Australia. Their vaccine candidate, which was developed by the University of Queensland, is in pre-clinical trial stage.
"Lahat ng proseso po ginagawa po natin. Having these different discussions with vaccine manufacturers, also with the governments of other countries, so that we can better position, so that our country and our population would have the adequate vaccines that is needed in time," Vergeire said.
She also sought to temper expectations, saying clinical trials usually last for six months and the regulatory process of making a vaccine commercially available takes a long time.
Even when a vaccine becomes available, Vergeire said the public should still comply with the minimum health standards to ensure protection against Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. (Marites Villamor-Ilano/VoxPop Philippines)