MANILA – Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. admitted that there is no supply agreement yet with any manufacturers of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines.
During the Senate hearing, Galvez said the national government has already secured 108 million doses of vaccines from different manufacturers via term sheets.
“The firm agreement that we have is through the term sheet,” Galvez said. “‘Yung tatlo na ‘yun (Sinovac, Novavax, and Moderna) ang fini-finish namin na supply agreement, but no supply agreement is finished yet.”
Galvez’s admission has alarmed opposition senator Franklin Drilon since the country cannot compel the delivery of vaccines in the absence of a final supply agreement.
“How can we say that there are deliveries without the supply agreements?” Drilon asked Galvez. “Are we saying that those term sheets will obligate manufacturers to deliver the amounts stated on the term sheets on a particular date?”
“Other than those which are donated, the deliveries, which are not donated, I assume are covered by a supply agreement otherwise there is no firm commitment to supply,” the Ilonggo senator added.
In response, Galvez told Drilon that the term sheets will push through “until we finish the supply agreement.”
“We have some sort of an agreement that we have already locked the supply. There is already a commitment to have the supply agreement discussed within this week or next week,” Galvez said.
The country aims to inoculate 50 to 70 million individuals this year and an estimated 50,000 are expected to be vaccinated this month./PN
