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MANILA: The Philippines continues to negotiate sourcing agreements with a wide variety of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, its fitness ministry said on Wednesday (Sept. 16), when its president rebuked Western corporations and said he was seeking Chinese and Russian vaccines. .
The Philippines, which has the highest number of infections and the current number of deaths in Southeast Asia, is potentially a giant market for vaccine brands with a population of 107 million.
“We are negotiating all the time,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told Reuters in a text message. “No vaccine manufacturer has ‘formally’ asked for a prepayment, although there have been innuendo during the discussions. “
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday criticized Western vaccine brands for requesting an upfront payment or reserving vaccines that are still in clinical trials.
He pledged to prioritize Russia or China, a country he praises in its historic verbal diatribes in the West.
His government has spoken to several potential vaccine suppliers, adding those from Russia and China, as well as us pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc. He plans to meet with the Australian biotech giant. CSL Ltd.
A Philippine government procurement law prohibits the payment of goods long before delivery and before product specifications are finalization, putting the country at a disadvantage in the face of strong global demand for vaccines. The Philippines has recorded nearly 270,000 coronavirus infections and more than 4,600 deaths.
On the other hand, countries like the US and UK have committed to buying heaps of millions of doses even though vaccines are still in the expired testing phase.
The Philippines has joined a vaccine allocation and testing plan led by the World Health Organization and is presenting itself as a candidate for phase 3 trials by pharmaceutical companies, Vergeire said.
“We are making every effort to access these vaccines,” Vergeire said at a regular press conference.
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