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Duterte: 'Highest bidder' wins in COVID-19 global vaccine supply

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Rose Carmelle Lacuata, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/02/01/20210201-duterte-monday-ho-5.jpg"/><figcaption>President Rodrigo Duterte. <em>Handout photo</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday claimed that countries that can pay more are being prioritized by pharmaceutical companies in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.</p><p>This is why the Philippines has yet to receive its supply of COVID-19 vaccines, Duterte said in his weekly public briefing.</p><p>&quot;Alam niyo ho itong problema talaga ng COVID, hindi ganoon kadali. For one, the greatest disadvantage natin is hindi tayo mayaman at ito labanan ito ngayon sa highest bidder nga. Kung sino &#x27;yung makabayad ng una, magdeposito na, tapos lalo na kung &#x27;yung bansa na &#x27;yun &#x27;yung humihingi ng supply ng vaccine is the country where the factory is located, nauuna talaga sa kanila,&quot; he said.</p><p>(You know this problem with COVID, this is not easy. For one, our greatest disadvantage is that we are not a rich country, and this is a fight between the highest bidder. Whoever can pay first, can place a deposit, especially if the country asking for supplies is the same country where the factory is located, they will be prioritized.)</p><p>He also said that the prices of vaccines is uniform, and countries like the Philippines have to pay the same.</p><p>&quot;&#x27;Yung mga price price, haggling lang &#x27;yan. Eventually, mag-taper off &#x27;yan into a uniformity in prices,&quot; Duterte said.</p><p>(Those prices, that&#x27;s haggling. Eventually, that will taper off into a uniformity in prices.)</p><p>&quot;Hindi mo naman sabihin na sa isang lugar, sa Pilipinas, ipagbili mo ng 500, tapos sa ibang countries because these are manufactured there, ipagbili lang ng $1, $5,&quot; he added.</p><p>(They wouldn&#x27;t sell it for 500, let&#x27;s say in the Philippines, then sell it for $1, $5 in other countries because these are manufactured there.)</p><p>Duterte likewise claimed that COVID-19 vaccines produced by AstraZeneca have been &quot;hostaged&quot; by the European Union.</p><p>&quot;Eh &#x27;yung AstraZeneca, hinostage ng European Union. Sa Europe kasi, parang iisa na lang sila,&quot; he said.</p><p>(The AstraZeneca vaccines were taken hostage by the European Union.)</p><div><strong>IN THE BOTTOM</strong></div><p>The Philippines earlier ranked in the <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/28/21/ph-ranks-79th-in-global-covid-19-performance-rating-lags-behind-asian-peers" target="_blank">bottom quarter</a> of 98 nations evaluated for their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, lagging behind its Asian peers, according to a study released Thursday. </p><p>The Philippines garnered an average score of 30.6 using six indicators in the 36 weeks that followed its hundredth confirmed case of COVID-19, said the Lowy Institute.</p><p>The indicators include the number of confirmed virus cases, confirmed deaths, confirmed cases per million people, confirmed deaths per million people, confirmed cases as a proportion of tests, and tests per thousand people.</p><p>The country&#x27;s Southeast Asian neighbors Vietnam and Thailand ranked 2nd and 4th with average scores of 90.8 and 84.2, respectively.</p><p>Singapore, Malaysia, and Myanmar placed 13th, 16th, and 24th with average scores of 74.9, 71, and 62.3, respectively.</p><p>The only Southeast Asian country that ranked below the Philippines was Indonesia at 85th place with a score of 24.7. There was no available data for Brunei, Cambodia, Timor-Leste and Laos.</p><div><strong>Vaccine doses</strong></div><p>The country&#x27;s &quot;vaccine czar&quot;, Carlito Galvez Jr., earlier said the Philippines will be be receiving at least 5.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/31/21/ph-to-receive-at-least-56-m-doses-of-pfizer-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccines">PH to receive at least 5.6-M doses of Pfizer, AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines</a></li></ul><p>The Philippines will be receiving 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and between 5,500,800 to 9,290,400 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from the WHO-led COVAX Facility.</p><p>Galvez said the 117,000 doses from Pfizer-BioNTech will be given to health workers.</p><p>He also said the government plans to inoculate economic frontliners like public utility drivers and delivery riders, by the second quarter of 2021.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9UM37lWno4s?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday claimed that countries that can pay more are being prioritized by pharmaceutical companies in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.</p>

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday claimed that countries that can pay more are being prioritized by pharmaceutical companies in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

Duterte: 'Highest bidder' wins in COVID-19 global vaccine supply

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Duterte: 'Highest bidder' wins in COVID-19 global vaccine supply

Rose Carmelle Lacuata,

ABS-CBN News

Published February 02, 2021 12:04 AM PHT

Read More:

Rodrigo Duterte

Carlito Galvez Jr.

COVID-19 vaccination plan

COVID-19 vaccines

AstraZeneca

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