Congress OKs COVID-19 vaccine bill

Updated Wed, February 24, 2021 at 3:54 PM Published Mon, February 22, 2021 at 7:07 PM

The House of Representatives adopted the Senate version of the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021, allowing the measure to proceed to President Rodrigo Duterte for signature.

The bill authorizes the Department of Health and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 to undertake negotiated procurement of vaccines and supplies.

Local government units and private entities are permitted to purchase vaccines, subject to restrictions.

Exemptions from customs duties, taxes, and fees will be provided for procured vaccines and necessary supplies.

A P500 million COVID-19 National Vaccine Indemnity Fund will be created to cover potential adverse effects of vaccination.

Licensed pharmacists and midwives trained by the Department of Health will be allowed to administer vaccines.

Immunity from liability extends to public officials, employees, contractors, volunteers, and representatives of private entities, excluding cases of misconduct and gross negligence.

Topics in this story

Explore more stories about these topics.

Rodrigo Duterte Department of Health House of Representatives

🤖

This story was generated by AI to help you understand the key points. For more detailed coverage, please see the news articles from trusted media outlets below.

News Sources

See how different news organizations are covering this story. Below are the original articles from various Philippine news sources that contributed to this summary.