Frustrated by the pace of vaccine negotiations, senators on Monday, January 11, floated proposals to allow local governments and private groups the leeway to deal directly with manufacturers, saying it could speed up the purchase of COVID-19 vaccine doses for Filipinos. 

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto raised the issue during the Senate’s hearing into the Duterte government’s vaccination program on Monday, describing the requirement to involve the national government as a “bottleneck” in ensuring Filipinos’ timely access to vaccines against the virus. 

“Why does the national government want to monopolize the purchase? Why not allow LGUs (local government units) and the private sector to do their own purchases? Why leave it all to the national government?” Recto said in a mix of English and Filipino. 

He added, “If the private sector can purchase it faster, why not allow them as a matter of policy?”

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon echoed this, saying requirements to course all negotiations with the national government seemed to be a “stumbling block” in buying COVID-19 vaccines.  

“Right now, there appears to be a stumbling block. From our impression, one cannot deal directly with the supplier; whether you are the private sector or the LGU, you will not deal with the supplier because if you have only an EUA (emergency use authorization), only the national government can deal with the manufacturer,” said Drilon.

In recent days, several LGUs had announced setting aside funds or signing deals with vaccine companies to secure supply of the scarce good for their communities. One requirement in the deals, however, was to involve the national government, similar to tripartite deals entered into by private groups. 

What are the risks?

Recto and Drilon pressed COVID-19 task force officials to spell the downside in allowing LGUs and private groups to engage vaccine manufacturers on their own, arguing this would be faster than having all deals coursed through the national government. 

But vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr said this would not be possible yet as “no company” would engage in deals that did not involve national governments of countries, considering vaccines against the virus were only being granted emergency use approval worldwide. 

Galvez said that only 2 of the 7 companies – AstraZeneca and Novavax – that the Philippines was in advanced negotiations with allowed for current tripartite deals involving LGUs and the private sector. 

Drilon argued that the government should still ensure all local players leeway to purchase vaccines instead of creating additional hurdles. 

“If the supplier would not want to deal with us, that’s another matter. We have no say over that, we have no control over that, but we should at least authorize those domestic actors…to be able to negotiate and not have their hands tied by this lack of an authority or this circumstance of a lack of only an EUA which is our own,” he said. 

Meanwhile, senators also questioned the hurdles posed by additional regulatory rules, pointing out that the government wanted to distribute the vaccine for wide use to as many as 70 million Filipinos in 2021 alone. 

“The testimony here today is that we are buying 140 million (doses) using taxpayers’ money and thanking the private sector for being in a tripartite agreement using part of their money to inoculate 70 million Filipinos, and were saying it may not be safe and effective?” Recto said. 

Food and Drug Administration Director General Eric Domingo said LGUs and private groups will only be allowed to purchase their own doses when vaccines are granted full market authorizations, which manufacturers are not yet prepared to do. 

“No company will take responsibility to say that they had a fully registered drug until they complete all studies,” Domingo said, adding it could take about two years to know the full effects and adverse events posed by a vaccine.

Domingo added that under emergency use authorization, public use of vaccines in development is allowed due to the urgent need to tame the pandemic – on the condition that stricter requirements will be observed in monitoring its use and effects, among others. 

Domingo said that in the case of vaccines given emergency approval, the national government would absorb the responsibility for monitoring any adverse event that could arise from inoculation. 

“Siya (national government) po ‘yung nagte-take ng responsibility over the investigational product that will be used. Kapag LGU ang diretso bumili, siya na po ang mananagot. Siya na po ang magiging responsable doon,” Domingo said.

(The national government takes responsibility over the investigational product that will be used. If the LGU buys directly, it would have to answer. It would become responsible for the vaccine’s use.)

Senator Risa Hontiveros, however, said that while the protection of the national government is important, the responsibility can be extended to LGUs and the private sector. 

Along with Drilon and Hontiveros, Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri, as well as Senators Francis Pangilinan and Cynthia Villar echoed support in allowing private groups and LGUs to access deals on their own. – Rappler.com