Syringes with needles are seen in front of a displayed stock graph and words Omicron SARS-CoV- 2 in this illustration taken November 27, 2021. REUTERS Dado Ruvic Illustration
A senior Philippine trade official said that people will only be safe once the whole world is vaccinated after the new coronaviruses highlight the need for countries to do their own research and development on COVID 19 vaccines.
As vaccine demand is unlikely to wane anytime soon, the Philippines is looking to work with its trading partners on this, said Allan Gepty, assistant secretary of trade and industry at the Department of Trade and Industry in an interview at the Reuters Next conference.
There is a truism that no one is safe unless everyone is safe, according to Gepty, who said that the new COVID 19 variants highlight that we need to continue doing our research and development in this area.
The Philippines is more than willing to work with other trading partners on research and development. His comments came as the world was battling the new Omicron variant, which has highlighted the danger of low vaccination rates in some emerging countries as their affluent counterparts move to give boosters to their population.
Gepty said the Philippines struggled to secure vaccine supplies at the beginning of the epidemic, which is why it has since built up its inventory through imports and donations, with a massive three-day vaccination drive taking place this week. The Philippines does not currently produce any COVID 19 vaccines.
The Philippines suffered from one of the worst COVID 19 outbreaks in Asia. With only close to 33% of the country's population fully inoculated, its vaccination rate is lagging those of its regional peers.
The Southeast Asian nation wants the World Trade Organization WTO to come up with concrete actions on trade and public health issues, without elaborating.
A trade response to the Pandemic is on the radar of the WTO, which had to postpone its first ministerial meeting in four years due to the global alarm over Omicron.
Gepty said the Philippines has the ability to become involved in vaccine manufacturing, but there are issues that need to be addressed, such as enforcing trade rules and ensuring the smooth flow of raw materials for vaccines.
He said that the supply chain and access to various raw materials have to be taken into account. The flow of these essential goods, the raw materials, amongst others, must not be hampered on the trade aspect.