DOF: Philippines has enough funds to inoculate 5-11 year-olds vs. COVID-19

The Philippines has secured enough funds for the COVID-19 vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years old, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Thursday.

In a statement, the DOF said the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses, medically approved for the said age group, is expected to be delivered on February 3, 2022.

Citing vaccine czar and National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the Finance Department said the government expects the vaccination of 5-to-11-year old kids to start by February 4, 2022.

The DOF said it has already signed agreements for an additional $800 million in financing for COVID-19  boosters along with vaccine doses for the pediatric population, which includes kids below 12 years old.

To recall, the agency said it has signed a $250-million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and another $250-million loan deal with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in December 2021. 

Likewise, a $300-million loan accord with the World Bank (WB) was also inked in December.

For his part, Finance Undersecretary Mark Dennis Joven said the additional loan amount would augment the current funding for pediatric vaccines and would enable the delivery of 30 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for the 5 to 11 age group. 

Only the United States (US)-based Pfizer Inc. currently manufactures the vaccine against the coronavirus disease found suitable for children.

“For children basically, we need to use new formulation and only one brand provides this new formulation, it's Pfizer. So from the previous loan, we’ve taken around 15 million doses for this Pfizer new formulation. And from the new loan, we’re taking around 15 million doses, again, new formulation, which is Pfizer. So that  gives us 30 million doses of Pfizer new formulation for those below 12 years old,” said Joven, who heads the DOF’s International Finance Group (IFG).

The Finance undersecretary said that to date, 216 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for adults have already been delivered.

The volume is more than enough to fully vaccinate the entire adult population, he added.

According to data from the Department of Health (DOH), 59.12 million Filipinos have already been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of February 1 this year.

The number includes both adults and minors aged 12 to 17 years old.

As of January 14, the DOF said it has already raised a total of $22.55 billion in budgetary support financing in relation to its COVID-19 response from the ADB, World Bank, AIIB, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Korean Export-Import Bank–Economic Development Cooperation Fund (KEXIM-EDCF) and foreign currency denominated global bonds.

In addition, grant and loan financing amounting to a total of $3.25 billion have been contracted in support of various projects to be implemented by agencies involved in COVID-19 response, the DOF said. — RSJ, GMA News