Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez said Monday that he has asked the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) to reconsider allowing the use of Covaxin, a vaccine manufactured by Indian firm Bharat Biotech, in the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program.
“On the Covaxin, we are asking the HTAC if it is still safe to use Covaxin since only few countries use it,” Galvez said.
“And also, we have some issues on pricing [of Covaxin],” he added.
At least eight COVID-19 vaccine brands have been issued emergency use authorization by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which include Covaxin, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sputnik V and Sputnik Light, Moderna, Sinopharm and Janssen.
The Philippine government have bought doses of the vaccines except for Covaxin.
FDA chief Eric Domingo has repeatedly said all vaccine brands issued EUA are safe and effective.
Sought for comment on Galvez’s move, Domingo said FDA has a different function from HTAC.
“FDA assessment is for safety and efficacy. HTAC evaluates cost effectiveness,” Domingo told GMA News Online.
Asked if FDA’s EUA on Covaxin will be rescinded in the event HTAC decides in favor of Galvez, Domingo replied, “No. That is not how it works.”
Galvez has said that even without buying Covaxin, the Philippines is still expecting to receive 120 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from September until the end of the year in addition to the existing 40 million doses.
Galvez said that the budget for vaccine procurement is at P88.6 billion but did not specify how much of this budget has been spent so far.—LDF, GMA News
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