Philippine vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Thursday that the government aims to finalize its supply agreement for COVID-19 vaccine supply with Novavax — and will appeal for its products’ early deployment — when officials travel to India this March.
“We will [be] closing ‘yung aming supply agreement sa Novavax,” said Galvez, referring to his trip to the South Asian country beginning March 9.
“And we are appealing na magkaroon ng early deployment ang Novavax this coming second quarter,” he added.
A term sheet to secure 30 million jabs of the Covovax vaccine, developed by US-based biotechnology company Novavax and manufactured at the Serum Institute of India, was previously signed by the Philippines.
The vaccine czar earlier claimed that the government was willing to shell out more money to receive the coronavirus vaccines earlier. He later revealed that some manufacturers from Western countries declined the Philippines’ offer to pay more, but did not identify the concerned companies.
Aside from Novavax, the country is also expecting to receive more vaccine doses from AstraZeneca by the second quarter. He added that negotiations with another American company Moderna are also on-going.
“Hopefully, ma-close namin ‘yung supply agreement,” he said.
