Prioritize higher efficacy vaccines like Pfizer, Drilon tells Galvez

Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon on Tuesday urged the government to prioritize the purchase and use of vaccines that have high levels of efficacy such as the Pfizer brand, lamenting that Filipinos are being short-changed when it comes to getting the most effective vaccines.

He said the government should make it a policy to prioritize the purchase and distribution of vaccines with high levels of efficacy.

Drilon noted that Pfizer has shown an efficacy rate of 95 percent while Sinovac’s vaccine has recorded an efficacy rate of anywhere from 65 to 91 percent based on clinical trials in countries like Brazil.

Besides, Drilon pointed out that Pfizer’s price is quite lower than Sinovac “which has been established to be less effective than the other brands.”

“That’s a basic logic: why choose a vaccine that is less effective yet more expensive over a vaccine that is more effective but less expensive?” Drilon asked.

“Kapag buhay ng Pilipino ang nakasalalay, hindi pwede ang ‘pwede na’. We need to buy the most effective vaccines,” he said.

“When it comes to the life of millions of Filipinos and the future of the country, there should be no price tag. We can buy the most expensive vaccines with high efficacy. We should not short-change our taxpayers. But we are a fool to buy more expensive vaccines with doubtful efficacy,” Drilon said.

Drilon said Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez should open his eyes and set aside his personal preference, or that of the administration, for Chinese-made vaccine Sinovac now that the country has more access to different brands of vaccines.

“It is about time for Sec. Galvez to look at this objectively and listen to health experts. I have not heard of any doctor or any member of the medical profession that recommends Sinovac over Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca. Bring me one, Sec. Galvez, aside from Health Secretary Francisco Duque III,” Drilon said.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)