Still, Moderna, which produces one of the vaccines that is mainly used in the United States, assured the Philippines that the
scheduled delivery date of June 15 remains, Romualdez said.
A Philippine official and the Filipino American healthcare community had been lobbying US President Joe Biden to release, for “humanitarian reason,” as early as May the 20 million Moderna vaccines purchased by the government and the private sector.
Filipino American groups, like the US Medicare in the Philippines and the Philippine Medical Association of Metro Washington DC, have started a letter campaign to generate support for their “homeland,” as Metro Manila tackles a fresh wave of infections.
Aside from Moderna, Romualdez said, the Philippines had written the US Department of Health and Human Services and the White House for a request “to borrow” its excess AstraZeneca vaccine.
He did not say how many doses were being sought but the United States recently donated 2 million doses each to Mexico and Canada. AstraZeneca has not yet been approved for emergency use in the US.
Romualdez said the Philippines had also renegotiated with Pfizer for 20 million doses through a bilateral deal and another 20 million through the COVAX facility, since it had settled the issue regarding the indemnity laws required by the American drug company.