House sets Covid-19 vaccine probe next week

MANILA – The House of Representatives is set to hold its public hearing on the government’s coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccination plan on January 18.

House Committee on Health chair Angelina Tan said the virtual hearing will be conducted to ensure that the multibillion-peso budget allocated for inoculation will be used to procure the most effective and safest vaccine against the virus.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., and other health experts are invited as resource persons in the hearing.

“There have been a lot of differing opinions, mostly from non-medical experts, regarding government-procured vaccines,” Tan said. “As such, we would like to hear from the experts themselves to determine facts and figures from a scientific point of view.”

Tan said she expects Congress to ascertain concrete legislative actions that will help the Executive in ensuring the planned mass vaccination will be a success.

“Congress will do what it can to help government agencies in arresting the pandemic,” he said. “We all want to return to our daily routines before Covid-19. As representatives of the people in Congress, we will do our part in making that happen sooner rather than later.”

Tan said the hearing will be a jump-off point for deliberations on pending resolutions seeking a comprehensive vaccination program plan.