Vaccine czar: Government not delaying tripartite agreements

Jose Rodel Clapano - The Philippine Star The STAR / Michael Varcas, file MANILA, Philippines — Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. underscored yesterday that the national government is not delaying tripartite agreements for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines by local government units (LGUs) and the private sector, but rather observing due diligence to protect them. “We are not delaying,” said Galvez, also the National Task Force against COVID-19 (NTF) chief implementer. “What we are doing is we are observing due diligence. We want to ensure that the money of the LGUs and the private sector are protected.” During his report to President Duterte last Tuesday, he said the NTF recognizes the big contribution of LGUs and the private sector in the national vaccination program against COVID-19, including their willingness to use their own funds to help the country secure vaccines. However, he cited how some of these procurement deals are multi-party agreements (MPAs) which involve private “intermediaries” with vaccine manufacturers. “Mr. President, when you gave us the directive and the law was passed allowing the tripartite agreement for vaccine procurement, the first thing we ensure is that the interests of the LGUs and the private sectors are protected,” Galvez said. He said the NTF has been dealing with vaccine manufacturers directly and avoided intermediaries in the vaccine procurement process because it would only “complicate and muddle” negotiations, particularly when it comes to pricing. At present, the NTF is dealing with vaccine manufacturers that either stopped accepting MPAs or are not yet open for such arrangements due to production supply and other logistical issues. “They (manufacturers) prefer talking to only one. If they talk to a lot, it would entail an enlargement of their personnel and a bit of a challenge on logistical arrangements. If there are 300 LGUs, they’d have to deal with all those deliveries,” Galvez explained. Due to the dynamics involved in negotiating MPAs, vaccine makers such as Sinovac and Gamaleya (for Sputnik V) have already expressed their intention to prioritize vaccine orders from the national government, he said. As for AstraZeneca and Moderna, which have forged MPAs with LGUs and the private sector for 17 million doses and seven million doses, respectively, they are no longer accepting new vaccine orders under the tripartite agreement. Galvez said the two manufacturers will be entertaining new vaccine orders under MPAs, but this is just for booster shots and for the latest generation of vaccines. “This means that they will offer different products, not the same vaccines that we had first purchased and those that are presently being delivered. That is what we are waiting for. We are waiting for the presentation for the new kind of vaccines that the LGU and the private sector can purchase,” Galvez said.