Opinion by EEA
Cartoon by Kore
Almost a hundred million cases later, several drugmakers around the world buoyed hopes for an end to the pandemic as COVID-19 vaccines are now within reach. Several months after the first case was identified, a handful of vaccines are now authorized, while some remain in early development and phase trials. Developed countries like the United States, Canada, and Europe have already started rolling out vaccines. However, in the setting of developing countries like the Philippines, getting vaccines into the hands of people is a different story.
As early as April 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte repeatedly touted the need for vaccines to put an end to this health crisis, turning a blind eye to the other factors that could possibly save the country from being left behind. Unfortunately, relying on vaccines has immensely cost the country as there are other factors that were overlooked to end this suffering.
Realistically, vaccine development is broken into several stages with a highly variable timeline. According to Dr. Seema Yasmin, director of Stanford Health Communication Initiative, the fastest vaccine development took four years, while the rest typically takes 10 to 15 years.
However, due to the rising demand and urgency, the development of COVID-19 vaccines has been considered a game changer by experts. The vast amount spent by developed countries made its fast development possible. Additionally, drugmakers have completely changed the game by ditching the time-consuming traditional approach as most of the manufacturers such as AstraZeneca and Pfizer use mRNA vaccine platform technology, which according to Imperial College London, has been in development for over two decades.
Nonetheless, aside from the stages that a vaccine has to go through, the real lag in this race is the gap between developing and developed countries. Vaccines acquired by countries around the world vary, depending on the speed of approvals, the deals the governments have made to buy supplies, and how much the vaccines cost.
These structural inequalities among countries resulted in unequal allocations of vaccines thus, causing delays in developing countries like the Philippines. According to Dr. Andrea Taylor of Duke Global Health Innovation Center, developed countries have invested a huge amount of public money to develop vaccines which allowed its game-changing speed of development. With this, they were able to clear the shelves, making middle to low-income countries wait until the restock in late 2021 or 2022.
Although Southeast Asian countries are expected to struggle with procuring vaccines, the Philippines’ neighboring countries were able to secure enough doses and some even have already started vaccinating. Unfortunately, the case is not the same for us.
Looking back, Duterte has repeatedly promised the public of inoculating the entire population for free. However, recent reports show that the country is struggling to secure doses of the promised vaccines until December 2020.
In reports shown by Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, it can be seen that it took the government four to five months to sign a confidentiality data agreement (CDA) with Pfizer which could have given the country ten million doses of vaccines by this month. Despite the allegations of “dropping the ball”, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. reiterated that signing the papers does not really guarantee such. He also added that there was never a “ball” and that their main goal is to acquire safe and effective vaccines for all Filipinos regardless of brand or country of origin.
Furthermore, contributing to the disadvantage of being a developing country, Duterte was also not proactive about reserving vaccines from Western manufacturers, whom he called “profiteers”. Even though Pfizer’s vaccine has shown 95% efficacy, he still preferred China’s Sinovac, which according to the results of late-stage trials in Brazil, has shown only 50.38% efficacy.
Despite its low efficacy, the Philippines has secured 25 million doses of China’s controversial Sinovac which are expected to arrive by February. The government is said to prioritize 50,000 frontline health workers in high-risk areas such as Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Cebu City, and Davao City.
A deal with Serum Institute of India was also recently signed for 30 million doses of the Covovax COVID-19 vaccine, which will be available by the third quarter of this year. In addition, 30 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine and 25 million doses of Sputnik V from Russia are set to be acquired as well.
According to Galvez, a term sheet between the country and Pfizer may be signed by next week. He also added that the country is on the verge of securing 80 million doses from Western developers such as Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
Although it is fair to say that the country has been facing corruption and has been suffering from a poor healthcare system for decades, it is still hard to understate how the current administration mishandles the situation.
And while it is true that developing countries like the Philippines are hindered by structural inequalities in global access to vaccines, it cannot be denied that the administration’s poor decision making has compounded the problem. What seems to be the cause of delay is deeply rooted in the leaders that are supposed to handle the crisis to benefit the people and not prolong it. Asleep at the wheel, lack of proactiveness, poor management, and over-relying on vaccines developed by other countries only extended the crisis which has greatly affected the country’s economy.
After all, the solution to this pandemic goes beyond vaccination. Millions of cases later, a safe and effective vaccine is one crucial answer, but there is more to it. Beyond vaccine development, this pandemic has unraveled the underlying issues that the country needs to focus on⏤investments in healthcare systems, research and development, education, and most importantly, good governance.
Without a doubt, the continuous race for COVID-19 vaccines gives us hope of possibly putting an end to this crisis. However, if poor governance remains and chronic mismanagement continues, then hoping to return to a semblance of normalcy might still be out of reach and will remain as hopes for a long while.
