MANILA, Philippines — A bigger budget may be allocated to procure the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine. ADVERTISEMENTThis includes P5.5 billion specifically for COVID-19 vaccines. I don’t think there will be any argument that you need to fund vaccines beyond the P 2 billion,” Salceda said. During the budget deliberations in the House of Representatives, several lawmakers have slammed the insufficient fund allocation for the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine to cover 20 million Filipinos. Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo, an economist, noted that if each vaccine for an individual costs P600, this means that the P2.5 billion budget for the vaccine for 2021 would only cover 3.9 million Filipinos.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 19, 2020 09:22 UTC