News By JP SORIANO, GMA News
Published December 17, 2020 3:49am
Updated December 17, 2020 12:09pm But the time for us to be able to get it earlier like Canada, Bahrain, and Singapore and others is gone because we needed to act quickly, says Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Babe Romualdez. Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Babe Romualdez doesn t want to dwell on how the Philippines missed its chance to access around 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech as early as January 2021. But the fact, according to Romualdez, remains that the time for the Philippines to get the Pfizer vaccine early is gone because the government failed to submit the required Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement (CDA) on time.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 17) Amid allegations Health Secretary Francisco Duque dropped the ball in the country s vaccine deal with US drugmaker Pfizer, Malacañang says President Rodrigo Duterte does not see any huge mistake on the official s end, but has advised him to address the issue once and for all. I think, from the overall demeanor of the President, wala naman po siyang nakikitang major lapse dahil ang pinag-uusapan po ay kontrata at hindi naman po abogado si Secretary Duque, said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque during his regular briefing.
[Translation: I think, from the overall demeanor of the President, he doesn t see any major lapse because the thing in question here is a contract and Secretary Duque is not a lawyer to begin with.]
No Pfizer guarantee of 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for PH - Duque inquirer.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from inquirer.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
SunStar December 17, 2020 THE procurement of Covid-19 vaccine in the Philippines is already underway as those assigned to negotiate and source the vaccine have already made some progress.
However, as early as now, controversies have begun to arise.
In a Tweet on December 15, 2020, Department of Foreign Affairs Sec. Teddy Locsin Sr. said he and Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Babe Romualdez were able to secure 10 million doses of Pfizer financed by World Bank and ADB (Asian Development Bank) to be shipped through FedEx to Clark in January. This came after negotiations between Locsin and United State Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Lawmakers: Missed Pfizer deal smells of kickvac inquirer.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from inquirer.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.