The Philippines and Pfizer signed a supply deal for 40 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.
On Sunday, the government said that the Philippines and Pfizer signed a supply deal for 40 million Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doses.
The Philippines had sealed its biggest COVID-19 vaccine procurement yet this year after signing a supply agreement with Pfizer for 40 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.
In a statement, National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said that the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine doses were expected to start “after eight weeks starting August” and the shipments will be delivered in bulk.
“We are very happy to report that the government and the management of Pfizer have finally concluded our negotiations. Secretary Duque and I signed yesterday the supply agreement for the biggest and most decisive deal we had for 2021. The vaccine demand has begun to ease up for many big and rich countries, as most of them have already acquired more than enough vaccines for their population and have vaccinated many of their citizens. This has allowed the manufacturer to commit to us that deliveries, though still to be made in tranches, will be in bulk,” Galvez said.
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Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate was the first to be granted emergency use authorization (EUA) in the Philippines, getting the Philippine Food and Drug Administration’s approval last Jan. 14.
However, the lack then of an indemnity deal, which settled who will shoulder the cost of adverse effects from the COVID-19 vaccine, delayed the arrival of the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doses initially expected in mid-February.
The procurement of the 40 million Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doses will be funded through a multilateral arrangement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which followed direct disbursement scheme where payments were made directly by the fund manager to the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer.
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