Philippines to get 30 million doses of Novavax COVID-19 vaccine says Locsin

Karen Lema, Reuters Posted at Dec 21 2020 03:57 PM MANILA - The Philippines expects to receive 30 million doses of Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine by July next year, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Monday, boosting the country's effort to secure supplies to inoculate more than 100 million people. Despite consultations with numerous vaccine makers, the Philippines has so far signed only one supply deal, with the help of its private sector, to acquire 2.6 million shots of a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca. It plans to buy 25 million doses of a vaccine from China's Sinovac Biotech for delivery by March, and aims to secure between four and 25 million doses of vaccines from Moderna and Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. "Thirty million dosages of the Indian-made Novavax vaccines are assured possibly with no cash advance. It will be available by July 2021," Locsin said in an interview with CNN Philippines. He said the information came from Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine producer, and that the terms of the supply deal may be signed before the end of the year. There was no immediate comment from the institute, which in August entered a supply and license agreement with Novavax Inc for the development and commercialization of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Talks with Moderna, which has been granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will begin next week, Locsin said. With 459,789 infections and 8,947 deaths, the Philippines has recorded the second-highest number of COVID-19 infections and casualties in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more