Longer wait for COVID-19 vaccine

What do the urban centers in Metro Manila and some local government units (LGUs) in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao have in common with regard to COVID-19 vaccine?

Answer: They all placed orders with drug manufacturer AstraZeneca for COVID-19 vaccines for their constituents.

None of them ordered Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine in spite of the Department of Health’s (DOH) expression of partiality for it.

The LGUs cannot be faulted for snubbing Sinovac vaccine. Aside from being more expensive, its efficacy (50 percent) is lower than that of their chosen vaccine.

It also does not help that China has a reputation for shoddy workmanship and widespread use of toxic materials in its products and keeping quiet about that unwholesome practice.

Besides, there is no assurance that Sinovac, whose clinical trial records are under wraps, will live up to its claim as an effective vaccine for the virus that originated from Wuhan, China.

By transacting with AstraZeneca, the LGUs were, in effect, saying they are skeptical of the DOH’s endorsement of Sinovac and that they have more confidence in the efficacy of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.

That manifestation of trust would be significant to the people who will be inoculated.

Bear in mind that in any illness, a patient’s belief in his or her physician’s expertise and ability to give medical relief plays a significant role in the treatment process. That level of confidence adds to the effectiveness of whatever medical prescription or instructions the physician may give.

The same principle applies to a person injected with a vaccine that he or she believes would make him or her less susceptible to COVID-19 infection in the future. The significance of that psychological booster should not be underestimated.

To date, the terms and conditions for the purchase of the AstraZeneca vaccine, including those of Sinovac, have not been disclosed.

This does not come as a surprise because those transactions are covered by confidentiality agreements that bar any of the contracting parties from disclosing their contents without the prior consent of the others.

When Carlito Galvez Jr., the chief implementer of the government’s COVID-19 response, was asked in the Senate hearing last week about Sinovac, he said no supply contract has been signed by the government.

He said only a “term sheet” has been agreed upon and that the Sinovac vaccine would have to undergo the required vetting by Philippine regulatory authorities.

A term sheet, which usually consists of one or two pages, lists the preliminary agreement on the principal aspects of a transaction the parties want to enter into.

Unless the parties clearly state that their signatures in the term sheet shall constitute entering into a contract, the term sheet serves only as the starting point of their discussions.

As in all contractual negotiations, the devil is in the details. The items mentioned in the term sheet have to be fleshed out clearly so the parties know their respective duties and responsibilities under their contract.

If the parties are unable to agree on the nitty-gritty of their proposed transaction, the term sheet loses its value and is set aside.

In all probability, considering the country’s pressing need for a COVID-19 vaccine and the government’s fawning attitude toward China, that term sheet will ripen to a supply contract.

Since Sinovac’s manufacturer practically holds all the aces in the transaction, expect it to drive a hard bargain and demand favorable terms and conditions from the Philippine government.

Although Health Secretary Francisco Duque III had said that the initial doses of Sinovac would be delivered starting next month and would continue in the succeeding months until December, it is doubtful if his optimistic forecast would come to fruition.

The Philippine bureaucracy moves at its own pace and national emergencies, if at all, hardly make any difference in that ingrained habit.

In the meantime, while waiting for any of those vaccines to become available, let’s continue to heed the advice on frequent hand-washing, social distancing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. INQ

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