(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — The Philippine government has signed a supply agreement for 40 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, the biggest vaccine procurement for 2021.
“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,” said National Task Force against COVID 19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. in a statement on Sunday.
A term sheet for the procurement inked in May detailed all the conditions and offers for the supply.
Galvez said the deliveries of the vaccine would start “eight weeks starting August.”
He added the Pfizer vaccines would be delivered to all provinces and regions through what he called “hubs and spokes,” and urged local government units to be ready for the arrivals.
“We again emphasize for LGUs to ensure third party logistics and cold chain service providers for very sensitive vaccines like Pfizer, Moderna and Sputnik V. We don’t want any vaccine to be wasted because of spoilage and mishandling, “he said.
In the statement, Galvez said the procurement of the vaccines would be done through a multilateral arrangement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), saying the loan funds through multilateral partners — like the ADB — follows a direct disbursement scheme wherein payments are paid directly by the fund manager to the vaccine manufacturer… Read More
