DOH: Marcos keen on funding new generation COVID-19 vaccines

Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire on Thursday said President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has expressed inclination to provide a budget for the procurement of second-generation COVID-19 vaccines that may be more effective against the Omicron variant.

“Definitely, I am very confident that funds should be provided for this new generation of vaccines,” Vergeire said in an ANC interview.

“We have already mentioned this to the President and the President is very keen that we allot a certain amount for this new generation of vaccines because we know that by 2023, these bivalent vaccines may be out already,” she added.

Vergeire made the remark after ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro on Tuesday decried cuts to some of DOH’s programs, pointing out that the P2.72-billion budget for the procurement of Omicron vaccine booster shots is unfunded so far.

The Health official said part of their appeal to Congress for the 2023 fiscal year is for the budget for these new generation COVID-19 vaccines to be part of the programmed funds of the DOH.

The Department of Budget and Management earlier said a standby fund amounting to P22 billion has been provided for vaccines under unprogrammed appropriations.

According to DBM, programmed funds are appropriations with definite or identified funding as of the time the budget is prepared while unprogrammed funds depend  on the revenue collection and when additional grants or foreign funds are generated.

Former Health Secretary and Iloilo lawmaker Janet Garin earlier called on the DOH to start making purchase orders of such vaccines as these were proven to be highly effective in preventing COVID-19 reinfection among vaccinated individuals based on clinical trials.

She stressed that the purchase of second-generation vaccines was necessary since there was still a high incidence of breakthrough COVID-19 infections among those who are already fully vaccinated and boosted with existing vaccines, even as they are mostly asymptomatic.

Garin also said that these vaccines will be available in highly developed countries by October.—AOL, GMA News