Sinovac Price Difference Between Philippines, India Cause Calls For Transparency
SINOVAC PRICE DIFFERENCE – The price of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine in India has been found much cheaper than in the Philippines.
Previously, Vaccine Czar Secretary Carlito Galvez had yet to disclose information regarding the price. However, he said that the country got Sinovac for a “good deal”. Meanwhile, an article from the Jakarta post mentions the price of Sinovac in India.
Based on data presented from Sonny Angara’s office, the estimated cost of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine is around P,3629. Surely, if the Philippines got this for a good deal, other countries should have similar prices.
Unfortunately, this is not the same when it comes to India. As per the article, the coronavirus vaccine will be priced at around Rp 200,000 or around P700.00 per dosage when it becomes public.
Currently, Indonesia had reported more COVID-19 cases than in the Philippines. As of January 15, Indonesia has recorded over 869,600 cases of the deadly virus. Meanwhile, the number of deaths had risen to 25,246 with 711,205 recoveries.
In comparison, the Philippines has a total of 494,605 coronavirus cases. Additionally, the number of cases recovered cases officially reported stands at 495,252. Moreover, the number of deaths also rose to 9,739.
With this in mind lawmakers and netizes alike called out the government to provide transparency for its people. But, as a response to these calls, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said:
I am not at liberty, pero I can say, sa lahat po ng oorderin natin, hindi po pinakamahal ang Sinovac. Alam ninyo kasi ang Tsina, hindi po iyan kapitalistang bansa, komunista iyan. So their prices are not driven by market forces, pupuwede silang unilaterally mag-fix ng price, at I can assure you, nabigyan po tayo ng presyo na ukol lamang sa kanilang BFF
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