WHO: Countries need to diversify vaccine portfolio

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN): In the past week, Filipinos got worried about the government’s ability to secure an initial supply of the Covid-19 vaccine amid news that neighbouring countries were bagging up deals while officials at home were consumed with pointing fingers over a failed effort to lock in an early shipment from one of the leading manufacturers.

Allegations of favoritism were also cast, especially as the government turned to pharmaceutical companies that had yet to release data on their candidate vaccines or were still concluding their clinical trials.