The Philippine government may not pursue the agreement with AstraZeneca of United Kingdom for the supply of at least 2.6 million doses of vaccine against coronavirus disease if the Food and Drug Administration would not approve the use of the vaccine in the country, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday.

In the "Laging Handa" televised press briefing, Duque said that under the tripartite agreement signed by the government, private sector, and AstraZeneca last week, the deal could be revoked if there is any violation.

"That's possible, of course, it means there's a violation of the agreement. So, you should read the provisions of the MOA (memorandum of agreement) and it is clearly stated there the mandate of each party who signed in the deal," he said when asked if the deal could be revoked in the event that AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine would not pass the FDA.

Duque said all the candidate vaccines for COVID-19 would pass through the Vaccine Expert Panel and they would also be checked by the Review Ethics Board.

Once they passed the two bodies, the FDA would also conduct its own evaluation.

"So, it will be hard for (the candidate vaccines) to be approved if they will find some not so good result and can affect on what we call as safe, quality, and effective vaccine," Duque explained.

The DOH has been seeking clarification from AstraZeneca about the supposed error on the result of the trial on its candidate vaccine.

But despite the report, the government and the private sector pushed last Friday for the signing of the tripartite agreement with an initial order of 2.6 million doses of vaccine for some 1.5 million Filipinos by middle of next year.

Meanwhile, in the same briefing, Jaime Montoya, executive director of the Department of Science and Technology's Council for Health Research and Development, said Phase 3 of clinical trials for Sinovac Biotech and Clover Pharmaceuticals, both Chinese companies, might start soon in the country.

The candidate vaccines of the two pharmaceutical firms have passed the scrutiny of the expert panel and if they could properly answer the questions of the ethics board and the FDA, "perhaps they are the first one to get approval for the conduct of clinical trials," he said.

He said the trials could start by "December or early January."

The government is eyeing to give COVID-19 vaccines to some 70 million Filipinos within three years once a vaccine is approved to attain "herd immunity." Celerina Monte/DMS