‘WE DO LACK VACCINES’: Palace spox asks for indulgence over scarce vaxx supply

By Jennifer P. Rendon and Joseph B.A. Marzan 

There is no denying that there is a scarcity of COVID-19 vaccines.

And this problem affects the country, not only Western Visayas, particularly Iloilo City, according to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

Roque, along with Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega and Assistant Secretary Romeo Ong, was in Iloilo City Thursday to deliver 50,000 doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine, ventilators, bilevel positive airways pressure (BPAP) devices, high-flow nasal cannulas, and personal protective equipment.

Also present were Iloilo City Lone District Representative Julienne Baronda, DOH Supply Chain Management Service Director Ariel Valencia, and DOH Western Visayas Regional Director Adriano Subaan.

Vega and Ong also met with directors of hospitals and medical institutions, both public and private, regarding Iloilo City’s health care utilization capacity.

In a press conference, Roque was pressed on the seemingly unequal distribution of vaccine supply to provinces, with Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces and cities getting the lion’s share of the supply.

He was also asked why the “preferred vaccines” were mostly given to the National Capital Region.

“Alam niyo po, ang katotohanan hindi po sapat ang bakuna sa ngayon. Lahat po ng ating mga kababayan ay nagsasabi na kulang po ang bakuna,” he said.

Roque said that more jabs were given to Metro Manila and neighboring areas not only because of the higher cases there but also because of the dense population.

“Ngayon po, lumuluwag na ang supply kasi po ang mga mayayamang bansa na nauunang umorder ng bakuna ay natatapos na po vaccination program like the US that is expected to declare an independence from COVID on July 4,” he said.

Because of this, Roque said that the country was able to order 40 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

“Lahat ng syudad, lahat ng probinsya, lahat ng sulok ng Pilipinas, kulang po talaga ang vaccine kasi di sya dumarating ng isang bulto lamang. Kaya yung sa paunti-unting dumadating na supply, binibigyan natin ang mga most vulnerable at ngayon po habang dumadami na ang supply, we are including the economic frontliners,” he said.

Roque said they are asking for understanding over the reality but “we couldn’t do anything about it.”

“Sabi nga po ni Sec. Galvez, kahit anong gawin natin, talagang we’re limited by the fact na kakaunti ang supply ng bakuna. But I think our strategy works. Kasi kung hinintay natin yung mga preferred vaccines na ginagawa sa West, we would not have successfully vaccinated in excess of 10 million people already before the sizable amount of vaccines from the US has arrived to the country,” he said.

He again asked for patience claiming that the dearth in vaccine supply happens all over the country.

Before the press conference, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas was quoted, “Ano ba yan sila (in San Juan City), diyos ba yan sila?”

Treñas made the statement in Roque’s presence citing vaccination in San Juan City using Moderna vaccines which have been delivered to the country recently.

The mayor also mentioned that areas like Cavite and Cebu were given more vaccines, including Moderna and Pfizer doses.

“Ano mas gwapo pa sila, Sec (Secretary Roque) haw? Ngaa haw kung tublukon ila kamot ano kolor sang dugo, asul? Indi bala pula man? Ano abi nila mga amo kami di?” Treñas quipped as he reiterated that they are asking for help because the city’s resources are not enough.

(Are they better looking, Sec? If they get a jab on the arm, what color of blood do they have? Is it blue? It’s red, right? Just like us.)

Roque acknowledged that the vaccine supply is not enough, at least for now.

“We ask for your indulgence now because unfortunately we don’t manufacture the vaccines,” he said.

Roque then added, “We wish we had more vaccines.”

When asked why Metro Manila areas were given with preferred vaccine brands recently, Roque did not directly answer, but stated that the sub-zero vaccines will reach the areas with cold storage capacity.

“Kararating lang noong isang araw ang Moderna. So makakarating po yan sa mga urban centers na merong cold storage capacity. So hindi lang po Moderna ang mga yan. Meron din pong Pfizer which will also be made available in Iloilo City,” he said.

He also clarified that there are guidelines in vaccines allocated to local government units (LGUs) all over the country.

He confirmed Iloilo City as belonging to the “NCR Plus 8, Plus 10” areas where vaccine allocations are increased compared to other areas due to the trends and volume of COVID cases.

He also added that the mRNA-1273 vaccine made by Massachusetts-based biotechnology company Moderna would be “arriving soon, given time”.

“Pabago-bago po talaga yan kasi depende po yan sa sitwasyon ng Covid sa iba’t-ibang lugar. So, kung dati po, walang prayoridad ang Iloilo City, ngayon po meron nang prayoridad because of the recent surge kaya po meron tayong tinatawag na NCR plus 8, plus 10 at kasama na po sa mabigyan ng prayoridad ang Iloilo City,” he added.

It was for the same reason why they were able to deliver an additional 50,000 doses of Sinovac on Thursday,

“[Allocations] change depending on the COVID situation in an area. So, if before, Iloilo City wasn’t a priority, now it is a priority because of the recent surge. We now have the NCR Plus 8, Plus 10, where Iloilo City is included, and this explains why we delivered more vaccines now. Our allocation is dependent on population and incidence of COVID. There is actually a mathematical formula in the same way we have a formula for a community quarantine classification,” said Roque in a press conference.

Roque said they always take into consideration the two-week average attack rate and health care utilization rate, among others, in determining the allocation of vaccines.

“We are distributing vaccines to all on the basis of population. But of course, we are giving more to areas with surge,” he said citing that it is done as per recommendation of experts and epidemiologists.

Iloilo City reverted to the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) starting May 23 following the surge in COVID-19 cases.

The MECQ status of the city was then extended until July 15.

Amid this, Roque stressed that vaccines will prevent diseases but its effect could be felt five weeks later.

“So, kinakailangan po na ang primary weapon natin against Covid is prevention, detection, isolation, and contact tracing,” he said.

 

MODERATE RISK

Vega said that Iloilo City, at present, is on moderate risk category.

“It means that the two-week growth rate is already negative but the ADAR, which is the average daily attack rate, is still high,” he said.

Vega said Iloilo City’s problem is really on the health utilization rate (HCUR), especially on the intensive care units because it is on the critical risk position.

“And this is the reason why we are here to talk to the different hospital directors and hospital institutions, both public and private, on how best we can adjust to the crisis or to surge that we have here in Iloilo,” he said.

Vega said that there is a need to talk about better strategies on making sure that critical and severe cases from Iloilo and from the neighboring provinces can access the critical care needed.

 

‘VACCINE COCKTAIL’

As to the proposal of “mixing-and-matching” of different COVID-19 vaccines, “treatment czar” Vega said they would depend on clinical trials and the guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Recent preliminary studies overseas have shown that mixing the COVID vaccines BnT162b2 (United States’ and Germany’s Pfizer-BioNTech) and AZD1222 (Britain’s AstraZeneca) have an increased chance of protection based against the disease.

The Canadian government changed their guidelines in early June to allow mixing of vaccine brands, particularly mRNA-1273 and BnT162b2.

“We are very much dependent on clinical trials from centers and the WHO guidelines, and once there would be a clear recommendation of mixing and matching different vaccines, that would be the strategy of the National Vaccination Operations Center.

Roque expressed that the national government is expecting a “better Christmas”, citing improved management of COVID-19 patients, better community quarantine policies, and an expected height of vaccine deliveries later in the year.

“We are confident for a better Christmas. We’ve exceeded the 10-million mark for vaccination, we have managed the COVID cases in ‘Metro Manila Plus 8’ which have been the ‘quarters’ of COVID-19. We have more areas now under MECQ but not population-wise, the population is not as great as when the numbers were so high or at its peak in ‘Metro Manila Plus 8’, and we’re confident that with more supplies of the vaccine coming in, there would be more people given protection and we could move towards containment,” he said.

Treñas told the press after the press conference that he was finalizing procurement of 50,000 doses of Covaxin made by India’s Bharat Biotech, on top of 600,000 doses of AZD1222 and 70,000 doses of NVX-CoV2373 (United States’ Novavax).