Philippines' Duterte signs indemnity Bill for COVID-19 vaccine roll-out
27 February, 2021
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday (Feb 26) signed into law a good Bill that provides indemnity to vaccine-makers if their COVID-19 shots cause adverse unwanted effects, days before the country starts its lagging inoculation programme.
Despite having among the highest number of coronavirus infections in Asia, the Philippines is definitely the last Southeast Asian nation to receive its initial group of vaccines.
In a statement, the presidential office said regulations would fast-track the invest in and administration of vaccines.
It covers the creation of a good 500 million pesos (US$10.26 million) indemnity fund to cover compensation for probable serious undesireable effects stemming from the doses' emergency use.
COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers will be immune from lawsuits for claims due to the administration of the shots.
The lack of an indemnification programme has delayed the delivery of 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, donated through the COVAX facility. The federal government had planned to work with those doses to start a vaccination drive in mid-February.
The Philippines will need delivery of 600,000 doses of Sinovac Biotech's vaccines, donated by China, on Sunday, allowing the Southeast Asian country to start out inoculating healthcare workers and soldiers.
The firebrand Philippine leader the other day asked Congress to hasten the vaccination and indemnification Bill.
The Philippines is negotiating supply agreements with seven manufacturers for 148 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, so that it can inoculate 70 million adults, or two-thirds of its a lot more than 108 million population.
After an archive 9.5 % monetary slump in 2020, the Philippines is eager to start its inoculation program to regenerate business and consumer confidence, and restore an incredible number of lost jobs.
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