SOME 44 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were wasted after the Department of Health (DOH) failed to dispose the medicines and eventually expired.
This revelation was made by Sen. Francis
Tolentino, the chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee, investigating the DOH for
its continued failure to release the details of the COVID-19 vaccine
procurement contracts under the Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA).
Tolentino said the purpose of the hearing was not
to ascribe fault to any agency or any private entity but to enable the public
to know how their money was spent and how the systems in place then had been fine-tuned
and better implemented.
“It also guides the Department of Health and any
other agencies to do better in other similar situations,” he said.
Lawmakers said the DOH continues to refuse to waive
the existing NDA on COVID vaccines for full transparency although it has
submitted initial documents so that the Commission on Audit (COA) could begin
its scrutiny.
Waive NDA
Senator Risa Hontiveros also has
repeatedly called on the DOH to waive the NDA in the name of transparency,
saying the NDAs with private manufacturers have outlived their
purpose. “At this point, COVID vaccine NDAs are useless and have
outlived their purpose dahil tapos na ang isyu ng price competition. It is now
simply a violation of the public's right to know how our money was spent. NDAs
should no longer stand in the way of accountability and transparency," she
said.
She said the fact that the DOH submission of
documents only covered the loan agreements with Asian Development Bank (ADB),
the World Bank, and those with limited permissions from select vaccine
manufacturers like Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
"What about the agreements with other vaccine
manufacturers, like Sinovac? Bulto bultong bakuna pa naman mula sa Sinovac ang
binili ng nakaraang administrasyon para sa national vaccination program. Paano
magsasagawa ng complete audit ang COA kung patuloy na magtatago ang mga
kompanya sa likod ng NDA clause ng kontrata?," She asked. "If we
allow this to happen now, it is precedent-setting. Baka sa susunod na pandemya
mauulit na naman ito, at posibleng maabuso.”
Hontiveros also said that this non-compliance of
foreign vaccine manufacturers with the country's government processes is
alarming. "There is too much unnecessary secrecy surrounding this. Hindi
naman dapat ituring na state secret ang presyo ng bakuna dahil pera ng bayan
ang ginamit para ipambili nito. Pinipilay lang ng mga NDA na ito ang mandato ng
COA na usisain kung nakasulit ba tayo sa bilyun-bilyong pisong inilabas natin
noong panahon ng pandemya," Hontiveros said.
She said that after some 44 million vaccine
wastage, it is high time the real cost is disclosed to the public. “Pwede bang
i-undermine ng pribadong sektor ang ating konstitusyon dahil lang mayroon
silang NDA sa government contracts? Of course not. Panahon na para makipagtulungan
ang mga vaccine manufacturers sa audit ng COA,” she said.
"I stand by my call to completely release all
information with regards to the COVID-19 vaccine procurement to the public. I
have been saying this for over a year. There is no reason for this to be done
behind closed doors. We deserve to know how every centavo was spent, lalo na
ngayong panahon ng resesyon. Managot ang dapat managot, at huwag magtago sa
likod ng NDA," she added.
Transparent
DOH Officer-In-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire
previously said that they are committed to uphold accountability and
transparency in the COVID-19 vaccine procurement after lawmakers told
the agency to waive the existing NDA on the medicines so that the COA could
begin its scrutiny.
During past public hearings held by the Senate
Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations (Blue Ribbon
Committee), Vergeire emphasized that the COVID-19 vaccine procurement portfolio
is extensive, requiring a broad range of highly-specialized skills exclusively
carried by specific government agencies.
She said they are always willing to provide the
needed information on vaccine procurement, in response to issues surrounding
its alleged refusal to provide the information to Congress and the COA due to
the NDA.
Vergeire said the DOH has, in fact, been very
proactive in requesting for the conduct of a special audit for the COVID-19
vaccine procurements, as evidenced by official DOH correspondences to COA as
early as 2021.
Despite the NDAs posing a potential hurdle to full
disclosure, Vergeire said the DOH and NTF will comply with all COA audit
requirements, adding, the DOH explained that disclosing information covered by
the confidentiality agreements without explicit consent from the manufacturers
has legal as well as public health repercussions.
Such disclosure, she said, may result in
manufacturers’ loss of confidence, which may, in turn, harm the country’s
future prospects to be prioritized or even to secure life-saving vaccines and
other products for Filipinos.
“As such, the DOH, as early as 2021, has
coordinated with vaccine manufacturers to secure their consent to disclose
information and enable procurement audits free from legal liability. Of the
manufacturers engaged by the GOP, AstraZeneca and Pfizer have given their
consent for DOH to disclose information under specific terms,” Vergeire said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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