According to Iloilo Representative and former Health Secretary Janette Garin, countries such as the Philippines could lose COVID-19 vaccine donations which is why the government should expedite and ease the release of the vaccines.
“Each country will have to be self-sufficient kaya maaapektuhan ito kapag ang gagawin ng ating Department of Health ay dumepende sa mga donasyon,” she said in an interview on GMA Super Radyo DZBB.COVID-19 no longer represented a global health emergencyFormer Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who also served as the chairperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19, said the Department of Health should look into subsidizing the COVID-19 vaccines.
“Pag-aralan na ng DOH na i-subsidize na lamang itong mga bakuna sa mga mahihirap… Doon naman who can afford these vaccines ay dapat ang mga vaccine manufacturing companies mag-apply na sila for certificate of product registration,” he said in a report by Dano Tingcungco on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.
“Nasagot naman ‘yan doon sa Senate hearing… Nagpaliwanag ang Department of Finance… At hindi na rin issue ang NDA kasi nga binigay na ng Department of Health ‘yung mga procurement contracts sa Commission on Audit,” Duque said. The latest data available from the DOH showed that the country had so far administered 179,046,746 COVID-19 vaccines as of March 19, 2023 — 75.703 million first doses, 79.164 million complete doses, and 24.178 million booster doses.