Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez said on Wednesday that the Philippines is mulling to procure the COVID-19 booster shot candidate made by American manufacturer Moderna.
According to Galvez, five million more doses of its coronavirus vaccine was offered for sale by Moderna to the Philippines.
However, the chief implementer of the National Task Force Against Covid-19 said the Philippine government could purchase the booster instead. He noted it can be mixed and matched with “any (coronavirus) vaccine.”
“Ang balak po namin iyong five million,” Galvez said in a House hearing on the country’s inoculation program. “Instead na ang bibilhin namin ay iyong vaccine, we might buy the booster already.”
Moderna announced last month it started giving its booster vaccine to the first Phase 2 clinical trial participants. It added that the study plans to enroll 60 volunteers who have previously received Moderna’s vaccine.
A tripartite agreement with the American drug manufacturer to receive 20 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine was previously signed by the Philippines.
An initial shipment of nearly 200,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is scheduled to arrive in the country on June 15, said Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez on Tuesday.
