PH still in talks with COVAX on near-expiry jabs replacement

MANILA – The national government is still in talks with the COVAX Facility about the replacement of 3.6 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines that are nearing expiry.

In an online media forum Monday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the government has to “fill out some documents so the COVAX Facility can continue studying the request for replacement.”

“Meron silang binigay na Demand Forecast Tool na amin pong sinasagawa ngayon at isa-submit (They gave a Demand Forecast Tool which we’re implementing now and we’ll submit) as soon as possible this week, so we can get already their official commitment to replace these expiring vaccines,” she added.

Earlier, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III noted the near expiry jabs amount to only 1.6 percent of the nation’s vaccine supply.

As for the donation of more than 5 million doses of Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccines to Myanmar, Vergeire said officials are set to meet with the Myanmar Red Cross Society on May 3.

Citing government protocols, Vergeire said a clearance is needed from the Commission on Audit and the Department of Budget and Management before the Department of Health could proceed with the donation.

To date, the country has received a total of 244,768,560 vaccine doses as per the data from the National Task Force Against Covid-19.