Thread by @cnnphilippines

THREAD: A Senate committee resumes its hearing on the government's COVID-19 vaccination plan | LIVE bit.ly/3qmH9jj

Tweets by our producers @cathmodesto1, @pplmanuel, @mrvinceangelo

Senate President Tito Sotto: We hope issues will be resolved in today's hearing. Some committee members still weren't able to ask their questions. This will be their chance.

Sen. Ping Lacson: Let me assure vaccine czar Carlito Galvez na walang pamumulitika sa hearing na ito

Sen. Lacson: Taga-tanong lang tayo, resource persons ang nagbibigay ng mga sagot.

Simple lang ang tanong: napapamura po ba tayo o napapamahal pa? Our confusion rose with the procurement of Beijing-based Sinovac vaccine

Sen. Lacson cites DOH data previously reported by Sen. Sonny Angara's office: Sinovac costs ₱1,814.75 per dose

Sen. Lacson: Congress wasted no time in passing legislative measures and appropriations to quickly respond to the current health crisis (1/2)

Sen. Lacson: For the national government’s vaccination program alone, which currently stands at ₱87.5 billion, speaks volume of the legislature’s resolve and commitment to our nation’s common cause (2/2)

Sen. Lacson cites vaccine czar Galvez's previous remark stating the price of Sinovac doses will go down by as much as 300% with the help of the COVAX facility (1/2)

Sen. Lacson: With a 300% decrease in price, we can demand a rebate equal to 200%. Kung ganyan pala diskwento, bumili agad tayo ₱5T of vaccines, singilin natin ng ₱3T na rebate para mabayaran natin utang natin (2/2)

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez: Through the government's whole-of-nation approach, LGUs and the private sector can now procure their own doses through tripartite agreements

Vaccine czar Galvez says they secured a deal with British firm AstraZeneca for 17 million doses of its coronavirus vaccines, which could benefit at least 8.5 million Filipinos

Vaccine czar Galvez on working with LGUs, private sector for procurement: Gaining to more partners allow us to secure more partners with our country. It can't be supplied by only AstraZeneca or any manufacturer, the supply we need is very immense

Vaccine czar Galvez: Looking at the experience of other countries, you'll see the centralized national procurement is the prevailing approach for developed, developing markets. EU procured supply for all its member states, UK for its member nations.

Vaccine czar Galvez cites similar efforts by India, Indonesia

Vaccine czar Galvez says a pooled approach allows government to ensure equitable access of vaccines nationwide.

He adds tripartite agreements allow LGUs, private sector access to more vaccine doses at lower prices.

Vaccine czar Galvez assures the public of ‘fair mix of vaccine options’

Vaccine czar Galvez lists the vaccine brands the country is looking into: This proves we are not favoring any vaccine

cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/1/14…

Vaccine czar Galvez: The government will strive to meet its target of 148 million doses of safe, secure vaccines this year

Vaccine czar Galvez: Only those vaccines endorsed by the vaccine expert panel will be purchased. Only those vaccines with FDA approval will be administered to Filipinos

Zuellig Pharma chief business officer Janette Jakosalem: With regards to distribution preps, the intended scale, scope of COVID-19 vaccines is unprecedented

Zuellig Pharma: Preparing for the distribution would be first obtaining information of various aspects like respective storage, special handling and transport requirements

Zuellig Pharma: We respectfully submit that warehousing capabilities be supported by healthcare supply chain experts, latest technology and digital tools

Zuellig Pharma: The magnitude, speed of the vaccination program will be extraordinary. Thus the logistical challenges will be complex and many

Unilab's Atty. Dave Frederick Escalona assures it is working closely with the government through the NTF in the handling of COVID-19 vaccines

Pfizer's Andreas Riedel Quercia: We are very keen to partner with the Philippines, ensure the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is available for use in the country

Pfizer: Consistent to our commitment, we filed an application for the emergency use authorization of our vaccine

cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/1/14…

Pfizer: We plan to make doses available in the Philippines as quickly as possible. We are working closely with government to secure the supply agreement soon

Pfizer: To date, we are in advanced discussions with the government on supply deal agreement

Pfizer: We intend to make available our vaccine to low-income countries like the Philippines at a not-for-profit price during the pandemic

If one is inoculated with a coronavirus vaccine, can they be vaccinated again with a different brand?

Dr. Lulu Bravo of the Philippine Medical Association says ‘this is not recommended’

DOH Secretary Francisco Duque: The protocol really is to give two doses of the same vaccine, you would not want to toy with the idea of giving different vaccines for the simple reason that if an adverse event happens, we're going to struggle which of these vaccines caused it

Dr. Bravo on Sinovac efficacy rate: That 50% efficacy was actually set by WHO long before. They said a 50-70% efficacy rate would be acceptable in the case of a pandemic

Dr. Bravo says such rates need to be in place in case of a severe pandemic: No protection of course is worse than partial protection

Dr. Bravo: It really depends on various factors, not just safety and efficacy but incidence of COVID-19 in that place which will matter most

Sen. Sotto: Ang ibig sabihin po ba ay 50% lang effective ang bakuna na 'yun? Or 50% na bibigyan ng bakuna na 'yun ang makikinabang? (1/2)

Dr. Bravo: Efficacy has a range. For example, Pfizer's 94% efficacy means severe infections is prevented 94% to even a 100%. But we still do not know how much transmissibility efficacy is there (2/2)

Dr. Bravo: Does the vaccine prevent transmissibility? Or does it just prevent the symptoms? That will be seen, determined by the way clinical trials are done.

Sen. Lacson: Before you can determine the vaccine efficacy, hindi ba dapat malaman 'yung risk ratio? Paano po ba maccompute ito?

Dr. Bravo: We call it R naught. You have to compute it by the number of people at one time who have the illness then over a period of a time, you're able to compute the rate COVID-19 increases

Sen. Lacson: Lumalabas po 'yung 50.41% na sinasabi sa Sinovac, it's not the efficacy rate but the risk ratio. So lumalabas po, ang vaccine efficacy ng Sinovac is 49.58%, which is below the WHO's imposed threshold

Dr. Bravo: This is the standard computation, I would say we really need to see the full clinical trial and experts on mathematical computation could tell us more on this. If you just want to prevent asymptomatic cases, it might give you a different figure

Dr. Bravo: I'm not so sure if they [Pfizer, Moderna] also included the mild, asymptomatic cases when they looked at COVID cases

Sen. Lacson: This is probably why Brazil suspended their trials, pwedeng iba 'yung mangyari under Philippine setting

FDA Director General Eric Domingo: Kung makita po sa interim results na less than 50% ang efficacy rate nila, di po papasa 'yun

FDA reiterates it has only granted an EUA to Pfizer

cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/1/14…

Dr. Bravo on addressing vaccine hesitancy: We really have to educate our masses

cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/1/8/…

Dr. Bravo: Vaccinology has not been very much tackled in medical school, even doctors are not that knowledgeable in immunology. We really need to rely on experts to tell us what to do next

Dr. Bravo: Vaccines have been here for 222 years since the time of smallpox, which uses an inactivated vaccine. The mRNa, ten years but this is the first time it'll be used in human trials

Sen. Lacson shows own computation of Sinovac vaccine’s efficacy rate. Source of formula is CDC.

Dr. Bravo says this is the standard computation: If this data is okay, this is the standard computation

Dr. Bravo: I was thinking the reason it came out very fast because China actually gave out the genetic code for the mRNA a year ago, this has made it [vaccine] possible to be developed

Dr. Bravo: The genetic code for COVID-19 is like a key to developing vaccines that will produce protein subunits we need to produce antibodies in your immune systems. I guess we should also say we owe it to China for that genetic code that they came out with in January

Vaccine czar Galvez: We have already signed a term sheet for 30M doses of Covovax vaccine. These doses can be expanded to 10M for LGUs.

He says these doses will arrive in Q3 this year.

cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/1/10…

Vaccine czar Galvez on Pfizer vaccine supply: We cannot divulge the indicative volumes, that is still under negotiation. Most likely we will have a term sheet, supply agreement within next week

Vaccine czar Galvez: There are 300 private sector (firms) who have signed in the agreement, we have 39 LGUs too. There are also 40 LGUs lining up that Novavax, AstraZeneca can accommodate

Vaccine czar Galvez reiterates this comes at no cost for the national government: The private sector will donate 50% of the doses, these will be given to the poor. The remaining 50% will go to their employees, along with frontliners

Vaccine czar Galvez says 14 million doses of AztraZeneca vaccine may arrive on the second semester of the year

Vaccine czar Galvez: Most of the vaccines with high demand will be available by Q3 or Q4

Sen. Sotto to vaccine czar Galvez: Sana saying "we might," sana "we will." We'd rather hear that. It does not give confidence to the public

Sen. Sotto asks Vaccine czar Galvez to provide a walkthrough on the vaccine procurement process for LGUs

Galvez: LGUs have to consolidate their orders to the province or regional heads. Afterwards, these will be processed by the NTF then we will endorse to vaccine makers

Vaccine czar Galvez: With the help of the COVAX facility, we may have Pfizer vaccine doses delivered in the first quarter.

COVAX is a global initiative to ensure countries’ equitable access to safe and effective COVID-19 jabs

DILG Usec. Epimaco Densing: We have already agreed with the League of Governors, the vaccine czar and DOH that for local government procurement, provinces will consolidate all procurements of component cities and municipalities if they want to procure separately

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion: It's imperative the private sector secures vaccine doses s because we feel they are the ultimate solution to our economic problem

Go Negosyo founder Concepcion says AstraZeneca also agreed to cater to LGUs in addition to the private sector for vaccine procurement: Without the tripartite agreement, this would not have happened

Go Negosyo founder Concepcion on AstraZeneca vaccine purchase: We spent $5 per dose, so that's $10 or ₱480. It's relatively cheaper.

He reiterates the cost already covers two doses.

Sen. Dick Gordon: What is the final cost of passing these vaccines on to the national gov't?

Concepcion: I don't know that part, the vaccines will be safe kept by DOH. The distribution, logistics will be handled by Sec. Galvez and Sec. Duque

DOH Sec. Duque: The assumption is the PH gov't has set aside ₱82.5B for our vaccine requirement. For purposes of easier mathematical computation, we're talking about 150M doses (1/2)

DOH Sec. Duque: So if you divide that, you'll get about ₱550 per person. That's the cost to include peripherals, auxiliary services like distribution, logistics, cold chain, etc (2/2)

Sen. Cynthia Villar: As I understand, 'yung tripartite agreement, they pay for double for what they have... It's not all of them going to government. The private sector has the right to distribute the doses to their personnel and family members

Vaccine czar Galvez: Companies that have purchased a COVID-19 vaccine understand that the administration, inoculation will be under DOH or else the company will not allow it

Sen. Sotto: Bumili yung private corporation ng 100K doses. Yung 100K na sinasabi niyo, pupunta muna sa DOH, hawak muna ng DOH. Ganon ba?

Vaccine czar Galvez: Yes sir, tayo po maga-administer dahil ang vials, dahil strategic asset sila, it should be given to DOH

Vaccine czar Galvez reminds private companies must still adhere to vaccination guidelines set by the DOH

Sen. Sotto: 'Yung government pa rin gagastos sa logistics?

Vaccine czar Galvez: Yes, sir

Sen. Villar on private firms' handling of vaccine supplies: Bakit pa sila bibili kung di naman nila mabibigyan mga empleyado nila?

Vaccine czar Galvez on COVID-19 doses allotted to the private sector: Priority groups must still get the vaccines first.

Priority sectors include frontline health workers, indigent senior citizens, uniformed personnel

Vaccine czar Galvez: Once the vaccines arrive in the airport, the DOH will accept them for purposes of administration and logistical recording. There must also be a 15-day inspection of said items under law

Vaccine czar Galvez: 50% of the procurement will be given to the government, so it can be given to the poor. 50% will go to the employees of the procuring corporation

What the DOH wanted is principle of equity access and no-privilege access be followed

Go Negosyo founder Concepcion: The procedure of AstraZeneca, because of equitable access, technically speaking we're donating 100% of the whole to government so they'll take possession (1/2)

Go Negosyo founder Concepcion: But it's understood in the tripartite agreement that 50% will be given to the private sector, following vaccine priorities (2/2)

Vaccine czar Galvez: The reason we have prioritization is based on WHO. We have to prioritize those are really vulnerable to preserve the healthcare institution

We have to preserve the institution that will help us heal in this pandemic

Vaccine czar Galvez: The imposition of priorities wasn't done by us but the WHO and the manufacturers who also follow WHO

Sen. Villar: In a company, you can't just choose who you want to vaccinate. Dapat pag bumili ka, dapat para sa lahat ng empleyado. Mauuna lang siguro 'yung nasa frontlines, pero all should be vaccinated

Sen. Villar: If you run a company, you buy for everybody or else your employees will get mad, they will not work

Sen. Villar: Dapat bigyan ng right ang companies to buy directly from the vaccine manufacturers

Sen. Bong Revilla: The study made by OCTA Research says a lot of Filipinos are unwilling to get vaccinated. Kahit sinasabing may ligtas na bakuna, marami pa rin tilang ayaw tumanggap nito

Sen. Revilla: Magandang tinatalakay natin ang national vaccination plan. Having said that, how will vaccines be administered? Voluntary po ba or mandatory?

DOH Sec. Duque says they are currently in talks with major medical organizations for addressing vaccine hesitancy: Sila po tutulong satin mag-advocate para mapataas ang tiwala't paniniwala ng mga taumbayan

Sen. Villar on vaccine priority in the private sector: Makikielam parin ang DOH kung sino ang binigyan ng kumpanya? Why will they buy if they cannot give them to their employees? That is impractical

DOH Sec. Duque on vaccine procurement: Sinisigurado ng administrasyon na dadaan ito sa proseso, na de-kalidad ang mga bakuna

DOH Sec. Duque reiterates the vaccination program isn't mandatory: Meron po tayong consent form, andun ang benefits at risks ng bakuna

DOH Sec. Duque: Meron tayong total na 1,245 na healthcare workers na gagampanan ang vaccination program. Meron tayong assessment sa kasalukuyan kung saan tayo nagkukulang and essentially, fill in the gaps

Sen. Revilla: For clarification, the DOH presentation used the term volunteers, meaning this isn't mandatory for teachers

DOH Sec. Duque agrees, says they will mainly play a role in vaccine education

Sen. Revilla: May dagdag na sahod ba ang mga guro para sa kanilang gagawing ito?

DOH Sec. Duque: Dahil boluntaryo po ito, wala silang matatanggap. Pero hayaan ninyo, titignan namin kung hangga't sa maaari kung pwede naman makapagbigay kahit konting ayuda sa kanila

DOH Sec. Duque says they will look for funding sources to pay for the services of teachers who may be tapped for the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program

Vaccine czar Galvez: Because we are encouraging volunteerism and bayanihan spirit, we have not allocated for volunteers, only donations for food, subsidies for food, transportation

Vaccine czar Galvez: We will look at the possibility that if there is available funding, we can augment services and provide honorarium for these volunteers

Vaccine czar Galvez says vaccine shots from the COVAX facility may arrive by mid-February

Vaccine czar Galvez: By March, we might have more or less 1 million COVID-19 vaccines, by April, 2 million

Vaccine czar Galvez: The deadline for the masterlist of recipients, resources we will need will be on January 30

DOH Sec. Duque on medical supplies needed for vaccination efforts: Naka-ready po tayo, pero kailangan po dagdagan. Finafinalize po natin ang figures para maging matagumpay ang pag-roll out ng ating mga bakuna

DOH Sec. Duque: Kailangang secure at safe ang ating mga mamamayan at vaccination team members

Vaccine czar Galvez says they will be inspecting cold chain facilities in Metro Manila next week: Bibisitahin po natin ang RITM, meron po tayong cold freezer na nabili na ng DOH and we will inspect it this coming week

Vaccine czar Galvez: Rest assured supply chain requirements, particularly ultra-cold ones, we've been negotiating since Dec. 16

DOH Sec. Duque says they will be submitting to the Senate the inventory of cold chain facilities

DOH Sec. Duque assures current ancillary supplies are enough for 50,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine

Cold Chain Association of the Philippines President Anthony Dizon: Kaya di namin masimulan 'yung mga kailangan naming ipatupad, dahil hanggang ngayon wala kaming naririnig na malinaw na direksyon

Cold Chain Association of PH: The participation in the vaccine program will also be subject to the guidelines of regulatory agencies, lalo po kaming di makakilos dahil di naman alam ang mga guidelines na ito

Cold Chain Association of PH: We've been operating this industry for many years under guidelines of regulatory agencies for the food supply chain, palagay namin hindi ito magiging ganon kalayo sa guidelines for vaccines. Kailangan lang po namin malaman kung kasali kami o hindi

DOH Sec. Duque: Ready naman po kami makipag-ugnayan sa inyong asosasyon, kung meron pa po kayong marerekomda, we will promptly look into this

DOH Sec. Duque: Apat ang kumpanya ang naghayag na kaya po nilang ma-accommodate ang iba’t ibang klaseng bakuna

DOH Sec. Duque: Mayroon tayong dashboard na ise-set up para ma-monitor ang distribution ng mga bakuna

Vaccine czar Galvez: Our war room has been established since Nov. 16

When can coronavirus vaccines be available for commercial use?

FDA chief Domingo: Iyong full completion of Phase 3 clinical trials mga 1 to 2 years. Sa ngayon medyo matatapos na ang first year. Ang pinaka maaga po ay end of 2021 or middle of 2022

Vaccine czar Galvez says there is a ‘possibility’ that Pfizer vaccine doses may delivered earlier than Sinovac vaccines: Kung maaprubahan ang aming appeal with COVAX

Dr. Jaime Montoya, DOST PCHRD executive director on COVAX appeal: We predict after Jan. 29, they will be issuing the approval to countries which complied with the requirements

Vaccine czar Galvez says advanced agreements with vaccine manufacturers are not a ‘done deal’

Vaccine czar Galvez: Sa atin palang ngayon, we signed term sheets. Wala pang government funds na lumalabas

Sen. Nancy Binay: Technically, pwedeng hindi parin tayo bumili ng Sinovac vaccines?

Vaccine czar Galvez: Yes

Vaccine czar Galvez: Kapag na-approve ang EUA ng Sinovac, I'm also willing to take that

Testing czar Vince Dizon: If the vaccine expert panel doesn't recommend the vaccines, the government will not purchase and administer them

Testing czar Dizon: In the initial review of the vaccine expert panel, they recommended 7 vaccines for possible purchase. That includes Sinovac. ‘Di pa final ito. Hinihintayin natin ang final recommendation ng vaccine expert panel at FDA issuance of emergency use authorization

Vaccine czar Galvez says he is willing to be injected with the first vaccine that will receive EUA from the FDA: I am willing to have that, and with my family

Dr. Antonio Dans of Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19: People must have access to safe and effective vaccines as soon as possible

Dr. Dans on COVID-19 vaccine access: It should not be a battle of purchasing power. Other preventive measures must continue even after vaccination

Can we actually give 148 million shots of COVID-19 vaccine this year?

Public health specialist Dr. Aileen Espina: Kailangan natin siguro ng special law to allow other healthcare professionals, like nurses, to be trained with vaccine technology so they can be jabbers

Vaccine czar Galvez: Limited po ang supply natin, realistically there are shortfalls sa delivery. Pang-salo po natin ang COVAX

Dr. Dans: We're noticing a change in decline in the number of cases

Since Aug. 1, mayroon tayong halos linear decline. Starting Jan., it sloped off. Last week, it was seeming to go up. After the holidays and Traslacion, we are expecting the worse — a surge in a week or two

Testing czar Dizon: The COVAX facility will be buying vaccines to be distributed for free to developing countries for a maximum 20% of their population.

The vaccines from COVAX will be free for 22M Filipinos, but gov't will shoulder other costs like distribution, administering

Vaccine czar Galvez on vaccination target: Considering we don't have enough trials for ages 17 and below, we will concentrate on vaccinating people aged 18 and above

WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe: What we're doing now is trying to reduce as many deaths as possible, protect most vulnerable. In the next two years, we'll be in a better position to say vaccines are safe for children

Dr. Anna Ong-Lim says there is not enough scientific data to support that the coronavirus vaccines can be given to those below 18 years old

WHO: In the next two years, we'll be in a better position to say vaccines are safe for children

cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/1/12…

Sen. Koko Pimentel: Kung pwede sana ang FDA ang mag-announce ng efficacy rates ng vaccine based on studies

FDA chief Domingo: We plan that every time we announce the EUA approval of vaccine na isama and efficacy rate at possible side effects

DOH Sec. Duque: Private hospitals will help us administer vaccines to frontline healthcare workers.

DOH Sec. Duque: We will make sure the protocols in the actual rollout of the vaccination plan.

DILG: In the advisory we will release next week, LGUs may procure up to 50% vaccine requirements. For example, the population of the LGU is 100,000, the LGU may procure up to 50,000.

DILG: The rest will be provided for by the national government.

DILG: We agreed the general policy is that the national government is supposed to do the vaccination program to the entire populace. The LGUs, if they can afford, can also procure vaccination requirements of LGUs.

DILG says LGUs are not required to purchase their own COVID-19 vaccines.

Sen. Lacson: Why do have to put a cap on the amount the LGUs could spend for COVID-19 vaccines? Hindi ba dapat mag-encourage pa tayong mag big brother role sila?

DILG: The original agreement is there is no limitation for LGUs which can afford to buy vaccines.

DILG says the purpose of putting a cap is so LGUs could ‘reallocate their resources for other anti-COVID activities.’

Sen. Francis Tolentino: Moderna said their vaccine has one year effectivity. Johnson and Johnson said one dose lang sila. Are we not taking these into consideration?

Vaccine czar Galvez: It is included in our portfolio. Johnson and Johnson and Moderna are included in our negotiation. And our negotiation are very conclusive. We are now at the final stages of determining the number of doses. We are waiting for their response.

Duque on vaccinating individuals with underlying conditions: Gagawa po tayo ng profiling. Yung mga babakunahan mahalaga na may impormasyon tayo sa underlying conditions.

Duque: [They have] Increased risk for adverse reaction. Babantayan po natin. Mayroon tayong teams, national committee. Bawat regional DOH ay may bubuin na mga adverse events following immunization committees to monitor post vaccination safety surveillance and reporting mechanisms

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto: In my opinion, iyong dahilan kung bakit ang private sector at LGU ay pumasok palagay ay nababagalan sila. And it would appear that in the beginning it was the private sector who still had the contacts.

Sen. Recto: If you include the budget of the national government, the private sector pati LGU, dodoble doble ang gastos.

Sen. Recto: If there is an assurance from the National Government to the LGUs that the National Government would cover the cost of the vaccine then the LGUs can use their resources for other purposes.

Sen. Recto: It will still take time before we are able to inoculate and achieve herd immunity. Kailangan pa rin i-continue ang programa ng LGU, iyong mga dagdag ayuda, for their constituents.

Galvez: If the delivery will be delayed for 2-3 months, the worst case scenario is the inoculation will be moved to first quarter of 2022. Our worst case scenario is more or less 100 million [doses of vaccine received] by end of 2021.

Sen. Recto: There is no worry about delays in funding or financing? And based on discussion with our suppliers, no one is asking for down payments?

DOF: At this point, hindi pa possible magkaroon ng downpayment because iyong supply agreements for most of the suppliers have not yet been executed.

Recto: How many do we expect to inoculate this year?

Galvez: We expect, best case scenario 70 million people, worst case 50 million people this year.

Duque on needed manpower for the rollout of vaccination program: If we conduct vaccination campaign simultaneously with the goal of vaccinating a benchmark of 24.6 million individuals, we will need about 35,240 vaccinators and an additional 176,200 personnel

Duque: Gagawin po ito sa 4,504 vaccination sites consisting of 1,912 public and private hospitals and 2,592 rural health units. We will need 18 days to finish 24.6 million individuals.

Sen. Recto: Tama ba na ang private sector nag-down payment na?

Galvez: I believe yes

Sen. Recto: So ang national government wala pa ang private sector meron na.

Sen. Recto on identifying more vaccination sites: Think about using the public schools. Walang tao ngayon diyan. In America today, kita moa ng pila, Ayaw natin nyan dito.

Sen. Recto: We are all doing this so that we save lives and livelihood. My suggestion, health workers, then the senior citizens, then the teachers. If you want to open the schools, pwede na ring unahin ang teachers.

Sen. Recto: We want to get the assurance from HPAAC that they promise that they will not allow political or business interference na hindi pwedeng sino magsabi na we have to buy a Chinese of Russian vaccine. Kailangan dumaan iyan sa pagaaral ng HPAAC.

Galvez: Rest assured that the procurement of the vaccine is not based on any political interest or financial interest. In fact, the procurement of the vaccine portfolio was based on the recommendation of the vaccine expert panel. (1/2)

Galvez: All of the vaccine we are purchasing is based on the parameters set by the expert panel. (2/2)

FDA: I was told by the HTAC that they are already studying Pfizer since lumabas na ang EUA and they will come up with recommendations by Wednesday. As vaccines have EUA, lahat poi a-assess nila.

Vaccine czar Galvez on the AstraZeneca supply: Because of the demand, around 2.8 billion for this year of AstraZeneca, the first delivery will be on May for the 2.6 million that we have ordered. The next will be on the second semester, third or fourth quarter.

Vaccine czar Galvez: The two vaccines that can deliver at the first quarter are Gamaleya and Sinovac. They have a specific dosages in every month. The other vaccines like the US vaccines will be having their delivery by third or fourth quarter.

Galvez: We are also making arrangements with SSI considering they are also producing AstraZeneca and Novavax. We are making some diplomatic arrangements on how we could accelerate the deployment for our health workers and frontliners.

Galvez says aside from AstraZeneca, Novavax and Moderna are also being considered for a tripartite agreement.

ULAP: On Tuesday, we will start a series of dialogues with the DOH. We will discuss the roll out procedures in much greater detail with the LGUs.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on the price of vaccines: We need transparency because this is government funds. I know there is a nondisclosure agreement but this cannot be used for government funds.

Vaccine czar Galvez: The price of the vaccines we are procuring, most of them are cost and no profit and they are fairly negotiated. The price published is incorrect.

Vaccine czar Galvez: Rest assured that we will be very diligent. The president told us we should make most of the negotiation and we assure that it will undergo strict procedure. All of our vaccine procurement will undergo with the WB and ADB stringent regulatory requirements.

Vaccine czar Galvez: Wala po akong sinabing mali ang mga senador. Ang ginawa ng news habang nagsasalita ako sabi ko that is not the negotiated price. Ang nilagay mali ang senado. Telephone lang po ako. Mayroong twist ang ginawa ng media.

Sen. Zubiri requests for the exact cost of the Sinovac vaccine after negotiations are completed.

Vaccine czar Galvez: We are reprimanded by the manufacturers. Anyway these prices will become public after the negotiation. If we will say the prices in public, it will compromise the 140 million doses we are getting and all the companies can withdraw in our negotiation.

Sen. Zubiri: As far as transparency is concerned, we would like to get a ballpark figure later on if need be when the negotiations have ended pero sana before they purchase.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon starts his questioning: Almost half or 47% of our people says they would not want to be vaccinated, the principal reason is reasons of safety. (1/2)

Sen. Drilon: To me the only way to overcome this reluctance is to provide more information to our people. You cannot impose confidence, you must earn it. (2/2)

Sen. Drilon: Even the Supreme Court has ruled that the constitutional right to information includes official information on ongoing negotiations before a final contract. (1/2)

Sen. Drilon: Okay let us not insist on knowing what the price is before the final contract is signed because we can understand the reluctance of Galvez because it might prejudice against negotiations. (2/2)

Sen. Drilon: Having said that, it is mentioned we will be getting Sinovac in the amount of 25 million doses by mid-February...Are we committed to buy from Sinovac or not?

Galvez: We are still negotiating sir

Sen. Sotto: The answer is still negotiating but why was there an assurance to us na by February they will deliver? (1/2)

Galvez: Yes that is the indicative plan that they will deliver. However considering there is a requirement for the EUA that plan might be...'yung plan sa kanila is really to follow up 'yung kanilang clinical trial result from Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia. (2/2)

Sen. Sotto: The point is we should be very careful with our pronouncements

Senate plays a video interview of Galvez wherein the secretary denied what a senator said about a Sinovac dose being P3,600. However, Sotto says the info came from DOH.

Sotto: That's the point. We should be careful with our pronouncements. The 3,600 (info) came from DOH.

Sen. Drilon starts questioning again: Is it not a policy of our FDA that they will consider issuing an EUA where a drug has already been passed upon by other jurisdictions which are considered as matured regulatory agencies like US, Australia, Japan, etc.? (1/3)

Domingo: The minimum requirement for an EUA application is an EUA from the home country or any other jurisdiction po ng FDA. However if the EUA comes from a stringent regulatory authority then it is reliable and we can recognize it. (2/3)

Domingo: If it (EUA) does not come from a stringent regulatory agency then we really do a very close inspection of everything. Hindi kami makaka-rely doon sa decision ng home country. (3/3)

Sen. Drilon: Does Sinovac have EUA from any of those with matured regulatory agencies like the US? Or an EUA from China?

Domingo: It has an EUA from China and Argentina and I think from Indonesia because they are using it there but none are stringent regulatory agencies.

Sen. Drilon: So having said that...the safety issue on the efficacy has not been addressed as so far our local jurisdiction is concerned? (1/5)

Domingo: Yes we haven't even started evaluating their (Sinovac) application yet because they have not submitted yet their interim results of phase 3 clinical trial. (2/5)

Sen. Drilon: But we are already expecting delivery of 50,000 doses by mid-February. (3/5)

Usec. Mark Joven: Because of the term sheet, Sinovac has a commitment to sell and deliver to us 50,000 doses before the end of February at a price but we don't have an obligation to buy from them until they meet certain conditions (4/5)

Usec. Mark Joven: ...the execution of a term sheet and getting the proper regulatory approvals. (5/5)

Sen. Drilon: The term sheet has been signed, correct?

Usec. Joven: Yes

Sen. Drilon: The feeling we get is full disclosure is not being made.

Sen. Sotto: You say you are still negotiating but they (Sinovac) are ready to deliver 50,000 doses. Have you made the down payment already?

Usec. Joven: No

Sen. Sotto: Paano sila magdedeliver?

Usec. Joven: 'Yung term sheet signed by Sinovac and the government through DOH indicates a commitment on the part of Sinovac to deliver several tranches, depending on the month, at a price certain

Sen. Sotto asks when Pfizer vaccines will be delivered

Sec. Galvez: Pfizer will be delivering by Q3 and Q4

Sen. Lacson: How do we reconcile that with pronouncement of Sec Roque na Feb to June puro Sinovac ang i-inoculate. Sabi pa nya don’t be choosy.

DOF: What we can represent is what is provided for and what is agreed upon. Basically the commitment of Sinovac is to deliver at a certain price given a certain volume within several months and in several tranches.

DOF: Our commitment is to buy from them if they meet certain conditions. One is the execution of supply agreement and number two is completion of regulatory approval process in the Philippines.

Galvez: Because we are still negotiating with the Covax, we still withheld the info but when we had cabinet meeting on Monday, we informed him [Roque] that we just met with the Covax and the possibility of a roll out during the first quarter.

Galvez: The Covax might have a mini roll out on the first quarter and indicatively it might be Pfizer.

Sen Drilon: Is it correct that the preferred efficacy is at least 70%?

WHO: In the minimum at least 50% efficacy is needed to be recognized as useful in the pandemic response. That is the target product profile. (1/2)

WHO: We haven’t revised the target product profile since many are meeting the minimum 50%. We are also conscious of the fact that the global response will need multiple products. (2/2)

Sen. Drilon: We are aware that the efficacy rate of Sinovac is 50.37%. Assume that in the next few weeks the efficacy rate of Sinovac is less than 50%, are we committed to proceed with the purchase?

Galvez: If it will not be approved by the FDA, it will not be administered.

Sen. Drilon: Why are we having an agreement with Sinovac when the other vaccines have much higher efficacy rate and probably at a lower price? Why are we making a commitment to Sinovac with such a low efficacy rate? (1/2)

Sen. Drilon: This gives a lot of our people discomfort. The confidence of our people is a low 47%. Pinasok mo pa ang Sinovac na ang efficacy 50.38% eh lalo hindi maniniwala nag tao sa vaccination. (2/2)

Vaccine czar Galvez: The reported efficacy rate of Sinovac is unofficial. In Turkey they have 91.1%, and in also in Brazil. They will consolidate these clinical trials to have the official pronouncement.

LOOK: Sen. Lacson shows a computation of the vaccine efficacy of Sinovac in Brazil’s clinical trials.

Sen. Drilon: Our economy depends on the acceptability of the vaccine that will be administered of our people. 47% would not want to be vaccinated then you come up with a proposal that we should get our supply from Sinovac.

Sen. Drilon: This does not add confidence to our people while there are other vaccine with higher efficacy at lower, if not competitive, with the cost of Sinovac.

Sen. Drilon: We are talking about the health of our people, the recovery of our economy and my strongest suggestion is you exert every effort to earn the confidence of our people in so far as the vaccine on concerned.

Sen. Joel Villanueva starts questioning: Malaking hamon is the communications problem. Last hearing, 25 million doses of Sinovac ang locked in and secure. (1/2)

Sen. Villanueva: Ngayon 50,000 na lang and ngayon na-klaro kanina na hindi pa tayo obilgado na bilhin 'yun unless pumasa sa standards which is a good input. (2/2)

Sen. Villanueva: Bumaba sa 49% efficacy rate (of Sinovac), may mga nakausap tayong doktor binanggit last hearing, saying kung Sinovac ibabakuna sakin hindi ako magpapabakuna niyan. (1/3)

Sen. Villanueva: 'Yung Sinovac ay para lamang daw, doon sa mga talagang heavy or malala na yung COVID, pero asymptomatic or mild hindi matatamaan kaya mababa. (2/3)

Domingo: Wala pa po 'yung final reports. Ang report is mas effective daw siya in preventing severe disease, 'yung mild to moderate, but until we really see the final report hindi po namin ma-confirm. (3/3)

Sen. Villanueva: I mentioned that because out of the 492,700 cases ilan ang asymptomatic or mild lang?

Sec. Duque: Ang mild, asymptomatic of the active cases, first ang ating recovery is about 93%. Five percent ang active cases (mga 22-23,000) 85 to 92% mild and asymptomatic.

Sen. Villanueva asks if a clinical trial in the Philippines is required if clinical trials in other countries have already been done.

Domingo: Mas magandang tingnan 'yung actual in the country. In fact Sinovac may clincial trial gagawin sa atin pero hindi pa nag-uumpisa pero tumatanggap rin kaming applications ng may data na hindi galing sa atin, Hinihiwalay namin 'yung Asian data.

Sen. Villanueva asks how many essential workers are there in the 35 million people prioritized for the vaccine. (1/3)

Vaccine czar Sec. Galvez: The essential workers includes teachers, social workers more or less 1.179 million or 0.95% of the population. Other gov't workers, 1.728 million or 1.66%. (2/3)

Vaccine czar Galvez: Other essential workers including health, education, social welfare, agriculture, food industry, transportation. tourism, manufacturing, construction and others, 1.69 million. (3/3)

Vaccine czar Galvez on essential workers in the priority list: Total number of essential workers including OFWs, 10.5 million or 10.15% of the population.

Sen. Villanueva: We're looking at the data given to us from the labor survey, ang essential workers will fall to about 18 million, kasama ba ang PUV drivers?

Vaccine czar Galvez: Kasama sa other frontline workers na first priority.

Sen. Villanueva: You mean to say 18 million considered elementary occupations and those in service or sales, pasok po?

Vaccine czar Galvez: Yes, including the private sector.

Sen. Villanueva: Ang PUV drivers, do we have the data how many we have? How about waste collectors?

Vaccine czar Galvez: Yes, so that we will have data, the LGUs are the one making the master list and it will be submitted to us on Jan. 30.

Sen. Villanueva: Merong pagkukulang sa pagiimplement ng vaccination program, in fact you were asking for legislative help perhaps funding, perhaps emergency hiring ilan ang kailangan natin? Kasi 200,000 (workers) for 24M doses but our target is 148M doses for 2021. (1/4)

DOH Sec. Duque: 'Yung babakunahan ay hindi isang bagsakan so scheduling po natin staggered po ito. (2/4)

DOH Sec. Duque: Kung ibang bakuna gagamitin outside of Pfizer, ang target 24.6 million doses, ang total ng vaccination sites mga 4,504 at mga 27,000 healthcare workers plus mga ancillary workers 177,000 so more or less 200,000. (3/4)

Sen. Villanueva: So we have enough (people to administer vaccines)?

DOH Sec. Duque: Yes po. (4/4)

Sen. Villanueva: The country has detected the first trace of the new covid variant, anong update nito? As of Jan 2021, 'yung NDRRMC, it shows that only 4 out of 17 regions have completed training to its contact tracing members. (1/3)

DILG: Nagkaroon ng lag sa recruitment. While we focused our attention sa hiring about 51,000 contact tracers, 3 months prior to expiration of Bayanihan 2, 'di namin nagawa. We were able to hire 47 to 48,000, around 96% nearing the end of Bayanihan 2. (2/3)

DILG: Naghahire while we were doing the training so purposes of ratio from training to hiring nasa 50 to 60%. (3/3)

Sen. Richard Gordon: Ang FDA at ang panel ninyo hindi matamaman ng pulitika. Iyong nangyari sa Dengvaxia hindi na dapat maulit iyan.

Sen. Gordon: Lalo nagkakaroon ng agam-agam sa pagbabakuna dahil maraming external matters. The first we do now kailangan maniwala ng tao sa gagawin ninyo.

FDA: Sa ngayon po tuloy tuloy ang kaso doon… pero kapag naresolve iyon malaking bagay ang ikatatahimik ng ating mga kababayan at yung confidence sa bakuna ay kailangang maibalik.

Sen. Gordon questions the government’s capacity to vaccinate: Ang problema ang performance natin 2016 70%, 2017 67%, 2018 66%, 2019 69%. Hindi pa masyadong bihasa

Sen. Gordon says he will file a bill that will allow training of vaccinators during time of emergency.

Duque says registration of Filipinos in primary care facilities that is required under the UHC Law is still low because of the pandemic.

Sen. Gordon emphasizes the importance of the implementation of the Universal Health Care Law.

Sen Gordon: Mayroon tayong gagawin na command and control system sa mga region. Itong mga primary health care provider, mabibigay ang records sa bawat probinsya, region, hanggang national government. Mayroon tayong national health information system.

Sen. Gordon: Hindi ba dapat gawin na natin iyan para hindi na tayo mahirapan?... Kung mayroon tayo nyan it can be used for contact tracing, testing, quarantine as a total approach which is needed.

Sec. Duque says they already issued license to 9,000 health care providers (1/2)

Sen. Drilon: Kulang na kulang iyan. So kailangan kayong tulungan para lahat ng tao makapagregister. (2/2)

Sen. Imee Marcos: Are there any guarantees that we could get these ou as soon as possible? Kailangan talaga ilabas agad kasi dapat may sense of emergency.

Sen. Imee Marcos also questions the need to inspect arriving vaccines once they arrive in the country.

FDA assures that their inspection will be done within 24 hours upon arrival to ensure immediate release.

Sen. Kiko Pangilinan asks Sec. Galvez: From Feb. to April, the first 4 months of vaccination rollout, what is your estimated number to be delivered and rolled out? (1/2)

Pangilinan notes that Galvez mentioned that in Feb. 20 the first vaccination will most likely be Pfizer and that Covax will bring in vaccines middle of Feb and 1 million are expected in March. (2/2)

Galvez: If we will have the vaccines from Covax and Sinovac, if they will pass the EUA, we might have around 50,000 or 100,000 for Feb. But we don't have the definitive numbers for Covax since we're still applying but definitive for Feb. is 50,000 and another 50,000 for March

Sec. Galvez: Starting next week we will have visitiation with LGUs and we will validate the (priority) lists and we will check their preparations

Sen. Pangilinan asks Sec. Galvez: 50% (of vaccine requirements) lamang ang pwede maibigay for private sector, ganun 'din sa LGUs? (1/2)

Sec. Galvez says there will be a cap in vaccine orders for LGUs: May tendency ang isang LGU na pakyawin 'yung quota and it will deny 'yung equitable access ng ibang maliliit na order. (2/2)

Sec. Galvez: Sa private sector yung 50% will be given to their orders, and 50% will be for the gov't sector

Sec. Galvez says there will be flexibility in vaccine procurement rules as things develop.

Sen. Pangilinan: The reason we are enabling the local governments and private sectors kasi nababagalan sa national government bureaucracy and we cannot blame them. Napakabagal 'yung accreditation ng testing centers, training ng mga gagawa ng testing ang aming delays. (1/3)

Sen. Pangilinan: How long can the private sector after the purchase be able to administer these vaccines to their companies, and the LGUs? For example, Quezon City, Makati, bakit hindi na lang idiretso sa kanila? Can we be also flexible in this regard? (2/3)

Sec. Galvez: We will be flexible on that matter that's why we will have a supply agreement with the LGUs. We will be flexible in the contract if we agree that inspection can be done in the warehouse of the LGUs and they are culpable. (3/3)

Sen. Pangilinan: What are the top three needs at this point of the 4,500 vaccination sites? (1/5)

Sec. Duque: We are preparing for 4,504 vaccination sites with 3 teams per site and a hundred can be vaccinated per team. If we are going to vaccinate 24.6 million individuals, kung not Pfizer, it will take 45 days and kung Pfizer, first and second dose it will take 25 days (2/5)

DOH Sec. Duque: Ang kailangan human resource complement. We are doing a master listing of all the human resource requirement, the ancillary services, mga PPEs na kakailanganin. (3/5)

DOH Sec. Duque: May kailangan for every step of the implementation of the plan from registration to final consent form, for screening for vaccination and post-vaccination surveillance and monitoring. (4/5)

DOH Sec. Duque says he will give the list of needs for the vaccine rollout to the Senate. (5/5)

Sen. Pangilinan suggests using gymnasiums and convention centers as mass vaccination sites.

DOH Sec. Duque: We will work with the DepEd to expand our provider capacity.

Sen. Pangilinan asks Sec. Duque again what are his top three needs for the vaccination sites?

Sec. Duque: PPEs, syringes - although we have 30 million - but we will need mga auto-discharge syringes, safety collector boxes

DOH Sec. Duque says he will submit to the Senate the number of vaccinators who have already been trained. He adds that there has been a meeting with the DOH and private and public hospitals to explain the hospitals' role in the national immunization plan.

DOH Sec. Duque: (To address) miscommunication, we will really focus on the scientific experts...It is science-based how we will highlight how effective these vaccines are.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros asks: Kung may magkaroon ng unintended consequence na may proof of harm… Sino sa IATF ang aako ng responsibilidad at mananagot sa taumbayan? Sino ang maaring kasuhan sa task force? Paano rin hahabuin ang pananagutan ng manufacturers?

Galvez: Ang responsible po talaga ay ang national government. I myself will be responsible in what I am doing right now. All of the members of the NTF are responsible in these negotiations that is why wanted these to be transparent... science-based.

Galvez: In terms of responsibility, I will take care of the responsibility… together with Sec. Lorenzana and Sec. Año.

Sec. Duque: Hindi naman natin maikakaila na may adverse events…. pero subject to the evaluation. Itong indemnification fund na aming ipinapanukala ay para sa mga kababayan natin na kapag naturukan ay nagkaroon ng side effects following immunization.

Sec. Duque: Sa amin rin pong suggestion gawing independent ang indemnification fund… mas maganda po siguro kung hiwalay if there is legislative space to accommodate this policy that we would like to present para mamange natin ang adverse events.

Galvez on SMEs who also want to procure vaccines: Napagkasunduan na pwede syang maconsolidate through DTI at pwede rin sa GoNegosyo

Sen. Hontiveros asks Duque if government funds will be used for his proposed indemnification fund.

Sec. Duque: Para po ito sa mga kababayan natin. Kung hahabulin natin ang manufacturers parang mahirap. (1/2)

Sec. Duque: Ang sinasabi nga nila dapat hindi sila maging liable kasi nga under the pandemic ccircumstances, sila na nga daw ang gumastos ng malaki tapos kung may mangyayari hahabulin pa sila hindi na daw nila kakayanin. (2/2)

Sen. Hontiveros asks if there are other standards set by the WHO for a COVID-19 vaccine. (1/2)

WHO: We have not specifically set criteria per country. That criteria we mentioned was identified when the research for COVID-19 vaccine was starting as a possible product profile for a candidate vaccine which should be acceptable for global health. (2/2)

WHO: None of the vaccines have actually completed phase 3 trials and this is an ongoing process so we do not have a final efficacy value. What we have now is... WHO has agreed to grant emergency use listing based on currently available evidence of efficacy and safety.

WHO: We are still urging member nations that as they roll out vaccines… that they need systems to monitor for potential side effects and to report those for better assessment as vaccines move to the next stages.

WHO: We are in process of reviewing two other vaccines and we believe that emergency use listing will be granted for those candidate vaccines possibly before the end of this month. (1/2)

WHO: Hopefully by the end of this month we will have three potential vaccines with emergency use listing granted by WHO. (2/2)

Montoya says vaccines are being ranked based on factors like track record of the company, technology platform as to reliability and stability, safety based on phase 1 and 2 and if phase 3 is available, potential efficacy based on published data, and vaccine implementation.

Montoya: The latest ranking as of Dec. 16, across the vaccines available, Sinovac was ranked number 4. Number 1 is Pfizer, number 2 is AstraZeneca, and number 3 is Novavax. (1/2)

Montoya: But within vaccine platform within technology, Sinovac ranks number 1 within the category of inactivated vaccines. (2/2)

Senator Bong Go: Napakahalaga ng bakuna sa ating recovery. Ito ang magiging susi sa pagbalik ng ating buhay sa normal...Nagkukulang tayo sa awareness plans.

Sen. Go stresses the need to prepare logistics such as storage and transportation for the vaccines: Kakaikot ko sa buong bansa, maraming hindi nakakintindi, hindi nila alam saan kukuha at bibili at paano dadating sa kanilang lugar (ang vaccines).

Sen. Go: If we continue to create controversy when there is none and we do not communicate our plan, this pandemic will never end.

Sen. Go: Kung walang katapusan ang pagdududa, kami naman bilang mambabatas, why don't we legislate a law, against those who are taking advantage of the situation? Ikulong natin o death penalty. Mauna na mainject ng lethal injection.

Sen. Go says some people want to take the vaccine but they do not want to be the first to take them: Nagtuturuan sa kanila, so ibig sabihin kunin muna natin ang kumpiyansa.

Sen. Go did not ask any questions from the resource persons about the gov't vaccine plans.

Senate adjourns its session after almost nine hours.

Sen. Sotto says that after two committee hearings, senators have gathered enough data on the national vaccine plans to give their recommendations that will answer the concerns of the public on COVID-19 vaccine procurement.