Palace says P72.5B budget enough for 60 million vaccine doses

Malacañang assured that the P72.5 billion allocated for COVID-19 vaccines in the 2021 national budget is sufficient to inoculate 60 million Filipinos.

This amount is less than the P83 billion initially proposed by senators.

Of the P72.5 billion, P2.5 billion will come from the Department of Health's regular funds, with the remainder sourced from unprogrammed appropriations.

Additional funding for vaccines will also be sought from multilateral institutions like the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, domestic government financial institutions, and bilateral negotiations.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque stated that the initial amount was small because the vaccine's release date was uncertain, but now that the budget is passed and the vaccine's release is clearer, the allocated amount is adequate.

The cost per dose is still a consideration, with previous estimates around P600, which would allow for approximately 100 million Filipinos to be vaccinated with the initially proposed P83 billion.