Establish a Philippine vaccine facility
Wise countries are aggressively developing vaccines against the Covid-19 and it is projected that safe and effective vaccines will be available by the end of the year or early next year.
The World Health Organization said only about two billion doses can be rolled out by the end of 2021. This will only be enough for one billion people at two doses per individual and so the vaccines will eventually be used first in countries that developed them. The estimated vaccine output is just good for around 2.5 percent of the world population.
With a very limited supply, struggling countries like the Philippines can only expect a token number of vaccines that could be shared.
It is about time our country establishes a facility to develop, manufacture, store, and administer vaccines following scientific and health procedures to secure our need for immunization.
The national budget for 2021 is P4.506 trillion and the build, build, build program of government is allocated the highest at P1.1T from which a vaccine infrastructure could be prioritized and funded in addition to the appropriation for health services.
As population dramatically increases, not only Covid-19 will prevail but other virulent diseases will emerge. There is need to protect the wellbeing of nature from destruction and have an efficient immunization outfit. — PERCIVAL B. ALIPIT, Baguio City