Galvez: Volume of COVID-19 vaccines to be procured based on ‘ranking’

CNN Philippines – Published Jan 20, 2021 6:01:07 PM

Metro Manila — Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. said the volume of COVID-19 vaccines to be procured is based on the brands’ ranking as assessed by the vaccine expert panel.

In a briefing on Wednesday, Galvez said the ranking is based on the criteria set by the government’s vaccine expert panel that took into consideration the safety and cost-efficiency of a vaccine.

“Iyong pitong options na tinitingnan namin ay based sa criteria na binigay ng vaccine expert panel and from there kapag binigyan ng rank ng VEP, binibigyan namin ng weight iyong nasa taas,” he explained.

[Translation: Our seven options, what we look at is based on the criteria given by the vaccine expert panel and from there once the VEP ranks them, we put weight on what brand ranked first.]

More volumes of the brand that ranks higher will be bought, Galvez noted.

He said based on the ranking, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine placed first. Sinovac, Moderna, and AstraZeneca completed the top four.

Galvez also assured the public that the country’s negotiated prices are fair and are lower than the vaccines’ market prices.

The government has so far secured 25 million doses of Sinovac’s vaccine, with the first 50,000 to arrive on Feb. 20, followed by 950,000 doses in March.

Some 17 million doses of UK’s AstraZeneca vaccine purchased through tripartite agreements are also expected to arrive first in the country.

Meanwhile, Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine is expected within the first quarter, while vaccines from Moderna are expected to arrive in May.

On the purchase from Moderna, Galvez said the national government together with local government units and the private sector are currently discussing a multilateral agreement for the procurement of 20 million doses.

SOURCE: https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/1/20/galvez-covid-19-vaccine-volume-purchase-based-on-ranking.html?fb&fbclid=IwAR10J2MkAXcHYD98y2ajhHkAWXeY02tvM3PgiE_wEwzIeIHEHW6iT72xVrs