The supply agreement with Johnson & Johnson was set to be signed this week, according to Galvez.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr on Monday said that the supply agreement with Johnson & Johnson was set to be signed this week.
During President Rodrigo Duterte’s weekly address on Monday, Galvez gave an update on the status of COVID-19 vaccine procurement in the Philippines, saying that the supply agreement was for 5 million Janssen COVID-19 vaccine doses.
In the timeline provided by Galvez, 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were set to be delivered in July, although no definite date was mentioned. Local clinical trials for the vaccine began in February and the identified clinical trial sites were in Calabarzon, Metro Manila, and Western Visayas.
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The vaccine was developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which was owned by the US multinational company Johnson & Johnson.
Three pharmaceutical companies — Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Clover Biopharmaceuticals, and Sinovac Biotech — were authorized to conduct human clinical trials for their COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines.
Aside from this, Galvez said that private firms may not purchase COVID-19 vaccines without the national government’s participation in the transactions.
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“Kasi sa ngayon dahil pandemic, walang commercialization ang vaccine. Ito po ay emergency use authorization meaning yung adverse effect at indemnification talagang sa gobyerno mananagot po,” Galvez said.
Meanwhile, Galvez said that the national government was aiming to inoculate 500,000 to one million per week in April, one million to two million per week in May, and two million to three million per week in June and July this year.
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