THE Philippines will donate $1 million to Covax, the global facility for equitable access to vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Monday, May 31, 2021.
“Itong binibigay ng Covax sa atin marami at ngayon, bumawi naman sila na nagkukulang na ‘yong pera nila to help other countries, maybe including the Philippines, and they are asking for contributions para makabili pa sila, to keep the operation running because they — well, probably are running low of funds also, and they have asked the Philippines formally for a donation,” Duterte said during his weekly public address.
“Magko-contribute po ako kasi napakabuti ng Covax sa atin. At the time we needed it most, one of the earliest agencies to help us aside from the contributions made by China,” he added.
Duterte did not specify the source for this $1 million, roughly P48 million, donation.
In a joint call to action, Covax co-convenors sought contributions to raise $2 billion by June 2 so that they can lock in supplies that can be delivered to 92 lower income countries through 2021 and into early 2022.
The Philippines is among these 92 lower income economies that are benefiting from the Gavi Covax Advance Market Commitment.
So far, the Philippines has received 2.556 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine and 193,050 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Since February 2021, Covax has delivered over 70 million doses to 126 countries. However, it faces a shortfall of190 million doses by the end of June because of the surge in India that has affected vaccine production.
The target is to deliver 2.0 billion doses worldwide this year and 1.8 billion doses to 92 lower income economies by early 2022 .
“If the world’s leaders rally together, the original Covax objectives – delivery of 2 billion doses of vaccines worldwide in 2021, and 1.8 billion doses to 92 lower income economies by early 2022 are still well within reach,” the statement read.
“But it will require governments and the private sector to urgently unlock new sources of doses, with deliveries starting in June, and funding so we can deliver. Covax has the infrastructure in place to facilitate and coordinate this complex global effort,” it added.
Vaccines are delivered to the 92 lower income countries through the Gavi Covax Advance Market Commitment, which has already secured 1.3 billion doses for delivery in 2021.
Among the countries that have committed to contribute to the Covax AMC are France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.
The United States has also promised to provide around 80 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Covax.
Covax was convened by Gavi The Vaccine Alliance, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, World Health Organization and Unicef. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)