ILOILO – The provincial government is set to procure some 110,000 doses of Covaxin, an inactivated vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) manufactured by India-based Bharat Biotech.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) passed a resolution authorizing Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. to sign the documents for the procurement of Covaxin shots.
A dose of Covaxin costs P901.60 and the provincial government will allot around P100 million for the procurement of 110,000 doses, SP member Rolando Distura confirmed to Panay News.
Covaxin is developed using the Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell derived platform technology. Inactivated vaccines do not replicate and are therefore unlikely to revert and cause pathological effects. They contain dead virus incapable of infecting people but still able to instruct the immune system to mount a defensive reaction against an infection.
Covaxin is also administered in two doses, given four weeks apart.
It has a reported efficacy rate of 77.8 percent against COVID-19; 93.4 percent against the severe symptomatic COVID-19; and 65.2 percent against the Delta, Alpha and Beta variants of the virus causing COVID-19, based on a report from the Sangguniang in Action.
“Mas mataas ‘ni sia gani compared sa Sinovac kag iban pa nga brands. Ang iya efficacy mas taas gawa kag amo ‘ni ang offer sa aton,” said Distura.
Earlier, the provincial government procured 270,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. So far, only 7,700 doses (2.9 percent) were delivered.
Distura said it is better for the provincial government to procure more vaccines to inoculate more Ilonggos.
As of July 31, a total of 115,337 residents or some eight percent of this province’s target population have been completely vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Provincial Health Office (PHO).
Of these, 23,400 were frontline healthcare workers; overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) (extended priority A1) – 1,140; family of frontline health workers (extended priority A1) – 367; additional frontline healthcare workers – 25; senior citizens – 21,011; persons with comorbidities – 18,719; and uniformed personnel (A4) – 163.
To achieve herd immunity, the province targets to inoculate 1,448,757 residents or 70 percent of its 2,069,653 total population./PN
