Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 27) — Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion is urging the government to accelerate its process of expanding booster coverage as ₱5.1 billion worth of vaccines bought by the private sector are set to expire.
The Department of Health on Tuesday finally released the guidelines for the rollout of a second COVID-19 booster for Filipinos aged 50 and above and adults with comorbidities.
Concepcion said this development is too late given that the vaccines are already going to waste when they have been calling for the second booster expansion since March.
“Dahil sa delay ng approval ng HTAC [Because of the delayed approval of the Health Technology Assessment Council], we will be greatly affected, about ₱5.1 billion… so sayang ang pera natin [our money is wasted],” Concepcion said. “We should really insist that DOH should plan out itong mga challenging situations katulad nito [like this].”
HTAC is an independent advisory body, with the overall role of providing guidance to the DOH and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation on the coverage of health interventions and technologies to be funded by the government.
The former presidential adviser earlier made the same call when he warned that 1.5 million vaccine doses are expiring.
Based on the latest report submitted to him, Concepcion said the number climbed to 4.2 million doses, of which 3.6 million are Moderna vaccines expiring on July 27 and 623,000 AstraZeneca shots expiring on July 31.
“Moving forward, we should avoid a situation like this again,” he said.
Latest data showed over 71 million individuals have completed their primary COVID-19 shots, while over 15 million have received their first booster shot.
The government launched its “PinasLakas” COVID-19 vaccination drive on Tuesday to encourage more Filipinos to get vaccinated and get their additional shot. It aims to provide primary doses to 90% of the target elderly population and inoculate at least 50% of the target population with the first booster dose.
